Silent Funeral
by akirasatsuna
Summary: LxOC Akira was set on finishing the Worldwide Human Trafficking Case that was boggling nations with no emotional attachments whatsoever. But what happens when she comes across another detective who was like nothing she'd ever seen before? Would her methodical, stoic measures be enough to keep her raging emotions towards this detective away?
1. Chapter 1

It was a silent funeral

It was a silent funeral. There were no guests, no grandiose celebrations, no speeches and words of thanks from famous people. Even those that he had the most encounters in his life were not at all present.

There was no one, almost nothing, except the bed he lies on, a small candle, and a crouched, pale figure watching him with eyes that were as dead as his. And there were no tears, not even the palest trace.

The clock struck 1 in the morning, and the crouched figure stood up. The candle was almost burned out; it cast a ghostly light upon the room, making it gloomier, as if every non-living thing in the room understood and was aware of the death that had just occurred.

Rain pattered against the windows. A shadow stretched across the room, its footsteps light and almost soundless. It stared at the dead figure on the bed, and with a deep sigh, covered the white blanket over the corpse. The crouched figure turned away slowly and closed the door behind as it left.

White had always been significant in this household. It was the only trace of life that can be found since Watari died, and now…even that white figure was dead too.

Akira prevented the tears that were coming. It bubbled up her chest like a warm fountain, but clenching her fists hard did the trick; and the warm fountain merely flooded in her chest, making it difficult to breathe.

Difficult to breathe…

She sank down on the cushion nearest to her, but sat up immediately as if branded by a hot iron. Looking down, she saw a colorful lollipop, still covered with a bright wrapper, as if beckoning her to eat. She forced a smile as she picked it up. She never liked candies—or any kind of sweets for that matter—but _he_ did, and so she tolerated the smell of marshmallows and chocolates in a room whenever he was there. But today…today…

A faint beep from a laptop left ajar woke her up, and she hurried over to it. A message had arrived for Watari (incidentally, she forgot to fix the orphans' papers since Watari died weeks ago. It was his wish for Akira to take care of the other orphans belonging to Wammy's House) from agents scattered all over the world. They all have received her e-mail saying that—well, they all gave condolences.

_I am sorry about his death. I shall mourn him with the highest respect._

_FBI regrets this terrible loss. The world needs such a righteous man as he. We shall remember him and his contributions greatly. Thank you._

'Gits,' she couldn't help muttering. 'Where were these people when he died? Where was everybody?' And before she could stop it, guilt had resurfaced in her heart.

_And where was I when he died?_

Of course, Watari, if ever he's alive today, would say that it was not her fault that she didn't know. _He _had always worked alone, never told anyone of his plans and was content on musing silently. But still, those numbered and precious times that they were together…_why? Why?_

And finally, she allowed herself to wallow into thoughts and memories she forced herself to forget…

* * *

She followed the old man through a long tunnel resembling the airport chute that leads to the plane. Calm and composed, she watched as the old man stared into the sensor and then punched in the security code. One glance was all it took for her.

The old man turned to her with a smile. "You got the digits, am I right, Kyoko-san?"

Her smile broadened. "Yes. All 11 of them."

Watari beamed. "Of course. As expected."

He turned the knob and beckoned Akira to follow him. Akira smiled at the room before her. It was comfortable, almost homey, and gave the impression of being well-kept. There were tall bookshelves, soft and plump chintz chairs and coffee tables. It was a home, but it was also something else.

Monitors littered one wall, showing all areas of the place. There were wide tables littered with numerous folders and documents, laptops and other materials. A small hill of folders and envelopes were placed on one corner, and obviously, these are the pending cases and investigations Watari and his agents are solving.

The floor was carpeted with what seemed like an expensive rug, exactly matching the walls of the room. Akira also noticed one coffee table with a lamp where a chessboard was left open. Akira smiled at the abandoned game. The white pieces were outnumbered by the black pieces, but the white still had the queen, a bishop, rook and a knight. She took her eyes off the abandoned game.

What really struck her was the one table that was really an oddity amongst all. It was covered in different kinds of sweets: marshmallows, chocolates, sugar blocks, candies, toffees, pastilles…anything and everything. She also noticed the adjacent wall that stood like a candy bar. She turned to Watari.

"A child?" she asked with a quizzical half smile on her lips.

Watari smiled back. "No. Ryuzaki."

And the door opened to reveal a full-grown man; probably in his early 20's (though Akira had a strong hunch he was 25) with a ruckus of jet black hair, untidy yet charming enough, and eyes that were dark and shadowed, giving someone the feeling of being transparent, as if the very soul is being x-rayed. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and jeans. He was barefoot, standing at almost 6. Tall and quite lanky, he stood in quite a slouching manner, giving the impression of carelessness over physical appearance.

His eyes scanned the room before finally resting at Akira.

She stared at him for a moment more, greatly piqued. He too stared back with such intensity as if she was a case to be solved for the FBI. Akira wondered what goes on behind that pallid, impassionate face.

Watari broke the deafening silence. "Ryuzaki. Meet Kyoko. She will be staying here for a while."

Having been bred and educated in European soil despite her Japanese parentage, Akira stepped forward and offered her right hand.

"Good evening, Ryuzaki-san," she said in her husky, controlled voice. "I'm Kyoko."

Ryuzaki looked at her extended hand before taking it in a limp handshake. Then he looked at her face once more.

As special agents, they are not allowed to speak their real names even in front of each other. They were assigned different code names, and for this instance, fake names. Despite being born as Setsuna Akira, she had taken a lot of undercover names while working for the FBI and other prestigious detective institutions. And Akira was very sure that Ryuzaki is not really Ryuzaki's name.

Watari spoke again. "Kyoko-san will stay here in Wammy's with us for a while, Ryuzaki. I'm sure you don't mind."

Ryuzaki gave the tiniest shrug, and then went over to his laptop. Akira watched as he sat—well it was like a squat but not quite—on the chair and started typing in the most unusual manner. She resisted the urge to smile and just looked at Watari.

"This is where you'll stay, Kyoko-san," said Watari as they walked to a single room.

"Kyoko," she said.

"Pardon me?"

Akira smiled. "Just call me Kyoko. Without the –san."

Watari smiled back. "Thank you, Kyoko. I hope you'll enjoy your stay here."

Akira looked at the room and placed her bags on the bed. "Wammy's House is very comfortable. I'm sure I'll be able to continue my cases here." Her eyes wandered over the soft, white bed, the pristine drawers and dresser.

"Everything you need is here already, Kyoko," said Watari.

Akira bowed and said "Thank you very much."

When Watari had left, Akira sat down on the bed and looked around. Unconsciously, her hand wandered to the necklace that hung round her neck. Her mind soared back to the place she left.

She had just finished a case for the British government when she was called by the FBI to help with the investigations for a mass human trafficking that's worrying the world. A little reluctant, she tried to ask for at least a one week vacation.

"_Can't detectiveso Eraldo Coil or Deneuve do it? They're supposed to be super detectives," Akira reasoned out to her investigations chief through an online chat two nights ago. _

_Akira sensed the hesitation in the chief's reply, "They are both on very important cases and I cannot afford to hire a less specialized one for this particular assignment."_

_Akira sighed before typing in her reply. "You're just waiting for a woman detective because most of the victims are women. Are you?"_

"_Well, if you put it that way." Was the reply._

"_Other detectives are solving 3 cases at a time—I just finished it all; why can't Deneuve or Coil do this? If they are solving a case right now, this human trafficking thing would just make their cases two, wouldn't it? So why me?"_

"_I told you, I don't want anyone stupid taking this one. C'mon make up your mind, Aisha, the FBI chief's breathing down my neck already."_

_She had used a fake name then. With a sigh, she typed back. "OK. Tell him I'm fine. Where is this?"_

"_Somewhere in Asia."_

So she left, leaving the apartment she rented for the one week she needed to finish her previous case, and taking with her everything she had there—even the grief that had enveloped her the past few days. She did her best to put it at the back of her mind, as having emotions during a case is proven to be quite detrimental. Aside from that, she was fond of the rustic mountainside England offered, but then she welcomes the tropical weather Asia has to offer too.

So Japan was her destination. She had been there thrice, but she never got out of her hotel. Walking about the city had always been the one privilege she never could get in all her years as being a special agent. _Maybe that's because I'm not a 'super detective' or something, _she once thought.

She was not in the ranks of the three best detectives in the world namely: L, Eraldo Coil and Deneuve, but she was definitely among the top, probably just a shade less than these detectives. She had only known these detectives by name and accomplishment but she greatly respects and admires their works and achievements. Hopefully, she told herself, she would be in the ranks of these men in the future —probably, the only woman detective among them.

Akira closed her eyes as she continued in her musings. Wammy's House was not the same as her England home, but it was close to Western living. She knew that Wammy's House is an orphanage in England, but has many branches all over the world. This branch in Japan is similar to the Wammy's House she's seen in Ireland and America—the only difference is that the two orphanages are just…orphanages. Unlike this one in Japan where it is used as a headquarters for Watari and his agent, Ryuzaki. From what Akira knew, there is an on going investigation about a mysterious killer. Akira wondered who was assigned to solve the case and pin down the suspect.

Akira heard the low murmurs coming from outside her room. Looking up, she saw a tiny, blinking red light. She smiled to herself. _Hidden camera…they could've done better. _She stood up and examined it. Whoever was watching her now would probably be bored. She hasn't moved for a long time from a reclining position, and really, there was nothing much to see right now.

Yawning, she walked over to the bed and opened her bags, thinking of the case she had just been assigned to. She hasn't even started yet.

_Well, they can't rush me into this,_ she thought. _I might just pin down the wrong person…_

She started unpacking and placing her clothes in the closet while thinking of her possible actions.

_Human trafficking is the new business of the century. It has replaced the stock market or real estate. Well, in depressed countries, who ever heard of stock markets? _

Akira finished unpacking her clothes; now she started unpacking the things she would need for her investigation.

_I would need a workplace; this room's just too little. _

She went over the door which opened automatically and looked for Watari.

"Watari-san?" she called, scanning the room with her eyes. The old man was not in sight. Only Ryuzaki was there.

"You called for Watari?" Ryuzaki asked.

"Yeah. May I know where he is?"

Ryuzaki looked up from his laptop. "He went out."

Akira looked a little disappointed. "Oh." She sighed. "Um…I wonder if…" She knew she should be used to other people with her, but she never was an extrovert and she had only met Ryuzaki minutes earlier, so she hesitated.

Ryuzaki looked at her expectedly, so she continued.

"Well, I need a workplace, and uh…my room's a little crowded, so is it possible if you could give me a place?"

Ryuzaki looked at her for a moment before standing up. He approached a wide table near the wall. "Watari had told me that you are here for an investigation. You could use this one."

Akira forced out a smile and glanced at the table. "Thanks. This is suitable."

Ryuzaki went back to his place without another word. Akira sighed and went to her room to get her other things. Seconds later she came back to the wide room carrying her laptop, a couple of documents, her cell phones (yes, she has three), a bunch of books, a landline phone, a few personal things, another laptop (smaller than the first) and other things she needed for the investigation. She set all these to her table and started sorting out. She placed the laptops side by side, followed by the landline phone on her right. She compiled the documents into a tall column. She left her cell phones scattered on the table along with other personal memorabilia. Lastly, the cords have to be connected to the main power switch…

_Where the heck is the plug of this thing? _Akira asked herself. While she fumbled with the wires, she had an unobstructed view of Ryuzaki working. Slouched with his face clouded with concentration, Akira found herself comparing him with her latest…_partner_. Unlike James who was a little muscular, Ryuzaki was quite lanky, with a ruckus of black, untidy hair and eyes that doesn't seem to sleep. James was more muscular, brown haired and with eyes that seem to smile. Akira sat on the carpet, slowly forgetting the wires she was supposed to be fixing. James…

_James…_

He was probably the longest part of her muddy past.

* * *

**Author's note:**

I don't own Death Note. I only own my plot and some made-up stuff.

This is my first time to publish a story and i do hope everyone will understand. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. Thank you! ;)

Oh and I forgot to say that in my story, i might not be following the original plot of death note, which means I might not put in my story key locations as that of the manga and movie. I might also not follow the proper sequence of events. I will be using the movie as my chief referrence but I will of course refer to the manga and anime for key informations.

Important events that happened in the movie, anime and manga will be included but I do not promise that my story will meticulously follow the original plot.

Thank you for reading, reviewing and understanding. Keep the reviews coming and feel free to comment and suggest. I will post the next chapters soon.

Thanks everyone! ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Akira continued to stare absently at Ryuzaki, her mind soaring to somewhere else.

_Yes. James…_

James Collin, CIA, detective. Akira's partner for a long time. A collaboration over the hunt of a madman killing women for the sake of money brought them together. Akira was quite a novice then and James was a few years her senior. He taught her the basics, and from then she grew and learned the business of tracking down killers, murderers and madmen. But aside from that, their relationship also grew into something more.

From being colleagues to being friends. From being friends to being close friends. And from being close friends to being…lovers. That's how their relationship went. In all the years that they were together, Akira found what it meant to be important and have someone important to care for. James was everything for her. He was her mentor in her profession as a detective, her friend in times of confusion, her competitor when in comes to drinking and lastly, but most importantly, he was her lover, the one that loved her more than anyone else.

She met James in Britain, in Buckingham Palace. He was a British agent and she was a novice agent for the CIA. Work brought them close until something special developed between them. Their relationship was perfect bliss; Akira had never known anything such as euphoric and perfect as James.

She wallowed silently at those memories until a loud ring reverberated in her ears. She sat there immobilized for a few seconds; then the ringing sound grew louder that woke her up to reality. Dropping the wires on the floor, she hurried over to her cell phones scattered over the table. Picking the one that vibrated and was blinking all over; Akira pressed the green button and answered the call.

"Hello?!" she said angrily to the receiver.

"Aisha. I've been trying to reach you."

Akira rolled her eyes. "You bastard. You gave me a shock. What is it?"

It was her chief calling. "What, are you in a middle of something? Anyway, how is it going with the case?"'

"The Human Trafficking Case? Look, I haven't started—"

"What?! Aisha, do you know how many women are being trafficked all over the world in just one hour and yet you haven't started on the case YET? You know how much—"

"I know! Look, I just arrived here in Japan, I haven't even started unpacking my stuff—"

The chief was firm. "That's not an excuse."

Akira sighed. "Yeah I know." She slumped on the floor. "Don't worry, I'll give you a prelim report on this at 11 pm."

The chief sighed as well. "11 pm here or there?"

"Here."

"Okay. I'll wait for it. Good luck."

"Thanks."

Then without another word, he hung up.

Akira slumped on the floor, dropping her phone with her. She looked up and saw Ryuzaki looking at her. She smiled an apology.

"Sorry," she said. "Was I too loud?"

He shook his head. "Not really."

She stood up. "Well..I'm sorry if I, uh, interrupted you." She started to head to her room.

_Okay. That was humiliating. I looked and sounded as if I'm not a detective. I'm supposed to be great—that's why the FBI hired me for this. _Akira cursed inwards. _Goddamn it. Why do I still wallow into those memories?_

_Those memories of…James?_

She knew she ought to have moved on by now. But it was just difficult, really difficult, working like this without him.

And vexed by the way she sees herself slacking off at work, Akira took off the necklace that hung from her neck and slammed it hard on the table next to her bed.

* * *

L followed the girl with his eyes as she went in her room. His eyes moved to screen 8, the one that shows her room (every room in the place is under surveillance).

He saw her slam something on the table.

He found her strange. He knew she was a detective like him, an agent, but it doesn't show on the way she conducts herself. There was no air of being mysterious, or hidden. _She'll work best undercover_ he thought, _with over 89 probability. _

He had noticed her staring at him for a long while, her eyes not entirely focused at him. He wondered why, but had no explanation for it. She was the least of his worries. Right now, his mind is busy with Kira and his killing spree.

L bit a part from a chocolate bar and read once more a report from Yagami-san, the leader of the investigation team for Kira.

He took a bite from the chocolate again.

Then his eyes glanced at screen number 8.


	3. Chapter 3

Dinner that night was silent. Akira barely noticed her soup getting cold. Her mind was hot on the case. She knew all the basic information she needed. She knew what was going on.

Except dinner.

Her food was almost untouched, save for a few bites from her vegetables (she always preferred vegetables for dinner) and a couple of sips from her soup. Leaning back on her chair, Akira resumed thinking about her pending case.

"Kyoko?"

Akira looked across her and saw Watari peering at her through his glasses. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Akira looked at her untouched plate. "Oh, yes. Yes I am. Sorry. I was just…thinking." She glanced at Ryuzaki who was sipping his drink.

Instead of having a usual dinner, Ryuzaki was eating a variety of sweets: a strawberry cake on one saucer, marshmallows on the other, candies and strawberries on one side and other assortments. She looked away before she catches his eye.

After dinner, Akira went immediately to her laptop and started typing. Her ideas were already well-thought out; all she needed know was a lot of physical evidences that would link all the mysterious losses together. She had given herself a month--or even less--to accomplish it; she wouldn't allow herself to be late even for just a day.

Akira read the different reports. One thing was consistent: 80 percent of the victims belong to third world countries. The remaining belongs to developing or 2nd world countries. The age group however, has no specific range. The nationalities are also different, so there's no specific operating ground for the syndicates.

_So it means that these people are scattered all over the world. That makes it harder for me to catch them. _

Her case concerns worldwide human trafficking. This is not the usual small scale trafficking happening in countries—this one is more alarming. In recent months, there were alarming reports of women (and even little girls) missing in countries all over the world, but more predominantly in third world countries. The rate of mysterious disappearance of these women increases significantly over weeks. The different intelligence agencies of the world knew that this is a mass human trafficking, and they need a huge work force to pin down the suspects.

At first, all the "superpowers" of the world—that means to say, the first world countries—suggested that different agents and detectives from different countries come together to investigate on this case. The agreement was that the UN will be the supervisor of this case. However, before everything could start, the different leaders of different nations started bickering with one another, arguing about policies and procedures to be done. In other words, there was no coordination and cooperation between nations. Finally, the UN decided to hand over the case to an experienced detective…preferably, a woman.

There were many nominated agents to do the job; of course the top three choices were the three most respected detectives: L, Eraldo Coil and Deneuve (even though they're not women). However, according to reports, these detectives are in more important cases, and are currently unavailable. The UN, in collaboration with the FBI and CIA, searched for a woman detective who has superior skills and experience on such matters. A lot of qualified names surfaced, but the FBI and CIA settled on one woman: Hideki Aisha.

Hideki Aisha. Jane Montgomery. Hisojima Kyoko. All of these fake names refer to only one person: Setsuna Akira: the one detective chosen to solve the case that's boggling everyone.

Ever since she started working as a secret agent/detective, Akira had assumed many names, solved cases under fake names and made reputations for different "detectives". But in reality, it was only her, working by stealth and establishing a mysterious persona. There are only three people who know her real name: her uncle, who was also an agent who worked for the secret service and gave her first break in the CIA; her "chief", Mr. Warbeck (Warbeck's her half-assistant, half-"manager", the one who makes sure she gets prime cases to solve and investigate and the one who communicates to the outside world for her.); and lastly: Watari.

It was necessary for the Human Trafficking Case that Watari know her real name. However, for security measures, Akira instructed Watari to call her Kyoko in front of everybody, and she instructed Warbeck to call her Aisha to make it difficult for people to know and discover things about her. She knows that the people behind the human trafficking are powerful people who have the money and influence to have her killed anytime, so she used a lot of fake names in all her transactions.

Briefly pausing only to sip tea, Akira read one of the reports sent to her earlier that week. Nodding lightly, she typed in more of her suspicions. As she got busier and busier, she noticed the room get quieter. Glancing quickly, she noticed that Watari was no longer in the room. A faint buzz brought her back to business. It was one of her cell phones.

"Yeah," she answered.

She nodded. "Right. Right. Okay, I'll send it in."

Then she hung up.

Seconds later, after clicking the send button, a faint sound indicated that she had sent an e-mail. Sighing briefly, she read one of the documents sent to her earlier this evening.

The night grew deeper. One of her cellular phones showed that it was already 2 in the morning. Yawning, she stretched and looked around. Only Ryuzaki and she were left in the room.

"Working late as well, huh?' she said to him.

He looked away from his laptop and looked at her with those dark eyes. "Yes."

Akira smiled wearily. "What are you working on?" then she added, "Sorry but I'm not able to follow current events lately. Too busy working."

"I'm investigating Kira," he replied. His voice sounded monotonous and serious.

"A killer?"

"Yes. But a different one."

Akira was piqued. "How?"

Ryuzaki took a folder, opened it and took a sheet of paper. He handed it to Akira, holding the document very carefully with his two fingers. Akira walked over to him and took it. She suppressed an amused smile.

She read it swiftly. "So Kira can kill without actually using his hand directly at his target. Interesting," she said to herself. Looking at Ryuzaki, she saw that he was eating a lollipop. It was already small, based on the small lump it made in his cheek. "Do you have any leads?" she asked him.

He nodded. "One."

Akira nodded. _Of course, _she thought, _He wouldn't tell me who._ She returned the paper to him. "Thanks," she said. "And good luck."

"Arigato gozaimasu."

She went back to her laptops and started working. She started by getting the information of the known victims and comparing them to each other. This took a long time, even with the help of some FBI agents scattered all over the globe. She sent them the list of victims and ordered them to find their information. Within 30 minutes, all she got was 25 results.

_Damn…_She hated the fact that she's not yet as recognized as the three best detectives in the world that's why she's not yet given as much agents that she can command as these three "super detectives". She has limited agents under her command, and sometimes, it causes delay in action.

As she was reading one of the reports, she heard a plastic bag being wrinkled. She turned around and saw Ryuzaki opening a bag of sweets.

_That's probably his tenth pack, _Akira thought, amused. _He really loves sweets. _Turning to her work again, she ignored him.

Later, while reading the report of one of the agents from Russia, Akira heard a ring. She knew it wasn't from her cell phone, nevertheless, she listened as Ryuzaki answered the call.

"Moshi moshi."

A pause.

"Right. Send in the details. With 5 percent probability, that will be the evidence we need."

Then he hung up.

Akira shook her head lightly. _5 percent probability? Maybe I should start doing that too. It might convince the FBI and other intelligence agencies to give me more men to work under my orders. _

The night slowly turned to early morning. Refusing to doze off, Akira fought the sleepiness with tea—lots and lots of tea.

Until her mini thermos ran out of it.

"Argh. Silly git," she said to no one in particular. She placed the mini thermos away from her. Exhausted, sleepy and quite hopeless, Akira slumped back on her chintz chair; her head resting against the head rest. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come.

Then she felt something cold brush her arm. She opened her eyes and looked up. He was offering her something that looked like multi-colored sweets on a stick.

"What's this?" She asked, rather sleepily. "For me?"

Ryuzaki nodded. "Yeah. To keep you awake."

She laughed a little. "Does it work?" she asked jokingly. He didn't reply.

With a smile, Akira took it from him, saying thank you. She appreciated the little act of kindness, and she felt a strange fondness for Ryuzaki. She took a bite from his assortment of sweets and smiled. It tasted wonderful.

Akira stood up and went to the small, kitchen-like counter. She made some tea and then approached him.

Without saying a word, she poured tea in his cup and then to hers, and laid the little tea pot on the table, next to his snacks. Then she pulled the nearest foot rest and propped it beside his chair, such that he was elevated and her head at level with his elbow.

He stared at her for a long time. Akira grinned.

"Well, everybody deserves a break and we've been working like mad for hours now," she said, answering his unspoken question. She took a bite from the snack he gave her. Ryuzaki looked at her for a moment more before saying:

"Thank you."

Akira smiled. "You're welcome."

She watched as he piled up three sugar cubes before putting them in his tea. By now, it was evident to Akira that Ryuzaki has a sweet tooth, and he enjoyed anything sweet before him. Silently, they ate, letting their bodies rest for even just a short while before returning to their respective cases. Akira looked up at Ryuzaki, watching him build towers using sugar cubes.

Intrigued, she asked him, "Is that fun?"

He didn't answer her but continued piling up sugar cubes.

Akira saw the bowl of strawberries. "Can I have some of those?"

Without a glance, Ryuzaki said, "Okay."

She took a fistful of strawberries and popped one in her mouth. Her attempts to talk to him so far have failed. Between the two of them, Ryuzaki was definitely the most introvert. And he looked like the type of person who could bear a year of not talking to anyone.

He interested her greatly, due to the fact that his actions seem weird and odd for her. In all her years as a detective, she had seen a lot of strange behaviors before, but she hadn't seen anything like him yet. Nobody she encountered holds objects in a very delicate and careful manner like Ryuzaki. Nobody she encountered loves to eat sweets in such great amounts like Ryuzaki. Nobody she encountered slouches and sits in a weird manner like Ryuzaki.

_Well, there's always a first time_ she said to herself. _A first time to see strange things, people, situations…_

Having finished the whole stick Ryuzaki gave her, Akira felt more energized. She glanced up at Ryuzaki who was busy watching something in his laptop. She looked away quickly.

Respect. Between agents/ detectives, privacy is very much respected. Akira knew that if Ryuzaki wants to share his case with her, he will, so it is rather impolite if she would look over his shoulder and watch whatever it is that he's working on. However, she caught the image in the video before she looked away. It looked like a young man: attractive but mysterious looking. _Maybe that's his suspect,_ she guessed.

Akira frowned a bit. She felt a little jealous that Ryuzaki already has a suspect in mind, while she was still far behind in finishing her case. Well, the hard thing about this case is finding out who does it. She knew that the suspects are rich and powerful, but there are a lot of rich and powerful people scattered all over the globe, and she can't have them all spied upon. The difficultness and complexity of her investigation surfaced in her mind once again. Sighing, she stood up and prepared to work. She placed the stick which used to contain all the sweets Ryuzaki gave to her earlier on the table. She stretched and looked at Ryuzaki.

"Thanks for the company," she said to him, wondering if he heard her. Then she added, quite unsure, "Though we didn't really talk much about…anything…" She walked towards her table.

"There wasn't much to say anyway."

Akira turned, surprised to hear his voice. She looked at him. Ryuzaki continued.

"You were silent and deep in thought."

Akira looked with wonder at those black eyes that seemed to pierce through hers. "Yes. I was. And so were you."

Ryuzaki stared at her for a moment more before saying, "Good luck." And he turned to his laptop again.

Akira, who was still quite surprised, gave a small smile and said no more. Imitating him, she faced her laptops and started working.

_Good luck…to both of us, Ryuzaki._

**Author's Notes:**

The third chapter. DISCLAIMER: i don't own death note. i only own akira and some of the made-up stuff.

thanks to everyone who reviewed and liked my story. also to those who "favorited" it, thanks a lot too! ;) i hope everyone likes it and i pray that you all be patient for the coming chapters. school is quite hectic these days, so i can't easily upload the chapters.

thanks to everyone and good luck to all your endeavors! ;)

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Akira woke up early the next morning despite the minimal sleep she got last night. Yawning and stretching, she got up and fixed her bed. She did her morning rituals in the restroom adjacent to her room. After all the morning preliminaries, she left her room to eat.

But before she did that, however, she looked up at the hidden camera. She grinned and said, "Good Morning!"

Then she went out.

* * *

"Good Morning!"

L popped a marshmallow in his mouth and looked away from his laptop to screen 8. Kyoko's smile loomed near; she stood a little too near the camera.

"She found out about the camera that easy," L said to himself. Then, the automatic doors opened and revealed the life-sized Kyoko, her smile clearer than the one at screen 8. L looked away and continued typing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Akira went to make herself coffee. It was 7:30 in the morning. She aims to start early on her investigation today and probably, with lots of luck, be able to finish not early, but on time. She opened one of the cupboards and found some cereals. As she made her breakfast, she glanced at Ryuzaki who was busy typing.

"Where's Watari?" she asked.

"He's out on my bidding," Ryuzaki replied, not looking at her.

"Oh." She was done adding milk to her cereals. She took a spoonful and stuffed it in her mouth. "Have you eaten breakfast already?" she asked him while chewing. "You might want to join me."

Ryuzaki shook his head while sucking at a lollipop. "No, thank you."

Akira shrugged. "Okay then." She continued eating, leaned against the kitchen counter, watching Ryuzaki work. After finishing her meal and brushing her teeth, she started on where she had left off last night.

She had three e-mails: two from Warbeck and one from an agent from Mexico. She read the e-mails of Warbeck first. The first one was a response to her prelim report, saying that he received it (it was protocol between them that the receiver sends and e-mail to the sender to inform him/her that he/she received the sender's e-mail.), and the second was another report on a missing child. She saved the report for later reading. The third e-mail was for a report of a missing lady in Mexico. Akira saved this too for later reading. After checking all her inboxes from both laptops, she started analyzing and gathering data again.

_Okay. For the past…_Akira counted the number of hours that elapsed starting from her departure from Britain up to the time the e-mails were sent. _…for the past 27 hours, two people have been missing. One was from Mexico, the other from…_She looked at the report Warbeck sent her. _The other from Dominican Republic. _Akira leaned back. _So what do these two girls have in common?_

She read the two reports, deep in thought. Her eyes traveled from one laptop to the other, since she had separated the two reports among her laptops for easy reference. The smiling faces of the girls beamed at her from their pictures.

The girl from the Dominican Republic was young, only 11 years old, while the lady from Mexico was 21. So what's common?

Akira's eyes wandered along the room, as if she could find the answers there. After a few moments, her eyes landed upon Ryuzaki.

Ryuzaki…

With a sudden hunch, she skimmed back to the photos Warbeck and the Mexican agent sent her, the images dancing before her eyes. With a sudden lurch in her chest she took her cell phone and started dialing. She stood up, impatient.

_Answer the damn phone, answer the damn phone…_she chanted to herself. Finally:

"Hello?"

"Damn you Warbeck, what took you so long?!"

"Aisha? What is it? Any problems with the report I sent you?"

Akira paced back and forth. "Nothing. Look, I need you to research on the latest activities the missing girls did: all their recent meetings, the parties they went to, the places they went to, with whom they were the time they disappeared and the immediate days before and after that, you got me?"

"Wa-wa-wait, Aisha. Go slower, you're rambling again," said Warbeck.

Akira rolled her eyes in impatience and paced faster. "Argh! Warbeck, are you drunk?! I need to have that information PRONTO! Send it to me as soon as you can, I already have an idea on these missing people!"

"So basically you want everything about them?"

"EVERYTHING. Even the most intimate secrets they have. It's important that I have their informations as soon as possible, okay?"

Warbeck sighed. "Do you mind filling me in? I know that when you're in a ramble, that means you've got something."

"Yes I've got something. I already know what's common among these girls and I—"

"What is it then?"

Akira's breath came into a rush. "Men."

There was a pause before Warbeck said, "Men?"

"Yes. Men."

"What made you come up with that?" Warbeck asked with amusement in his tone.

Akira sighed, "Well, I—I saw a man and…it just came to me—the idea, I mean." Unconsciously, she glanced at Ryuzaki.

"There's a man with you at Wammy's?"

"Shut up, it's nothing personal. Look, I believe these girls are being taken into the sex trade and are imported overseas so that they could work as sex slaves."

"That's possible, but Aisha, you don't have enough evidence on this. And besides, do you know how many women are missing? And do you know how many agents you have under your control?"

"I know. The missing women are a lot over a hundred from all over the globe and the agents I have…well they're not plenty. That's why I need those info right now."

"And sex trade? Possible, but Aisha, why would they get women from, Scotland, Ireland and Norway to work as sex slaves? These countries are well-established already."

"But not all the victims came from well-established countries. Most came from depressed ones…"

"They could be made to work as slaves—not necessarily sex slaves—but for domestic chores. That happens a lot in Latin America, in Cuba for example, where they use children for their cotton plantations…"

Akira sighed in exasperation. "I know that and what you said is possible too that's why I need to start on this as soon as possible so that I can establish the most realistic case on this."

There was a pause.

"Alright. I'll tell the men what to do."

Akira heaved a deep breath. "Thanks." And hung up.

A little exasperated but still quite excited, Akira sat back. That's when she felt Ryuzaki looking at her. She smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry for the noise," she said. She felt embarrassed. Here she was, a newcomer in Wammy's making a lot of noise in solving her case while Ryuzaki, who was also an agent, was silently working on his investigation. But despite her embarrassment, her excitement for her investigation got the better of her. "I've got a lead now." She added, happily. "Well, not quite but it's better than having nothing." She was smiled.

Ryuzaki merely stared at her with those emotionless eyes and said in his same monotonous voice, "Congratulations. Good luck with your investigation."

Akira merely smiled and went back working. Her excitement ebbed away as she looked at her inbox. There were more than fifty e-mails. She sighed as she read them one by one.

Minutes passed into hours, and when Akira was finally done skimming and scanning the 70 or so documents she received (20 more came after lunch), it was already 5 in the afternoon. She looked around, the room looking a bit weird.

_Probably just my eyes, _Akira told herself. She had been staring into her laptops for almost half of the day. Suddenly feeling hungry (because she didn't eat anything except for her cereals for breakfast), Akira stood up to get something to eat (and also relieve her butt of the stress from sitting down for long hours). She saw that Ryuzaki was sitting on a couch and reading one of the books from the bookshelves. Refraining from interrupting him, Akira took a bag of chips and started eating.

Leaning against the table, Akira watched Ryuzaki. They had been together for the past hours but there was little and almost no interaction between them. She was busy with her work while he, well maybe he was too, Akira couldn't be sure because she was too busy to glance around and look at what he is doing. Actually, Akira barely sees him leave his laptop. Although she can hear him talking to someone, his tone was always business-like and monotonous. She never heard him laugh or even hear his voice rise up a bit. Most importantly, she had never seen him smile, not once.

_Well, this is just my second day here, maybe I'll get used to him more. _Finishing off the bag of chips, Akira drank two glasses of water, popped a couple of strawberries in her mouth, and then started to work again.

Taking all the printed copies of the information on the missing girls, Akira placed them side by side on the remaining space left on her table. Her documents did not fit on the table, so she spread some on the floor. Scanning the documents with her eyes, she took a pen and started encircling common words in the sheets. It was a tedious job and she could've done it with her high technology softwares, but her eyes were getting tired from staring at her laptops, so she decided a change in approach. Firstly, she encircled all the common places these women frequent. Words danced before her eyes.

_Bars…restaurants…ballroom…parks…museum…school…internet….com…_Akira wrote the name of the website on a separate paper. After encircling more words, Akira began arranging the victims according to age. She made three age groups: kids (those below 12), teens (13 to 19) and women (20 onwards). After sorting them out, Akira then looked for common people and places among the kids age group. She wrote these in a paper. Then she did the same to the two remaining age groups.

Finally done with the preliminary gathering of common data, Akira was about to sit back on her couch when she noticed Ryuzaki standing in front of her and watching her intently. She looked up.

"Were you watching the whole time?" she asked, ignoring her hair that fell on her face.

Ryuzaki didn't nod nor shook his head. Instead he said, "USA. Canada and England. That's where they all want to go."

Akira was confused at first but when she saw him pointing to the teen and women age groups, Akira understood.

"Of course," she said, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "Yeah I've seen that." She sat up more properly. "I've learned that most of these teens and women aspire to get to these developed countries, and probably they are lured by huge syndicates to work there as slaves without their knowing. The question is, how are they able to get in these countries?" She looked up at him as if he could answer her.

Ruyuzaki knelt before her. "They couldn't. Without--"

Akira nodded, frowning. "Without outside help, yeah I know that but who? Who's giving them outside help?" She stood up, and so did Ryuzaki.

They stared at each other, Akira looking at him although her mind was not with him.

Ryuzaki stuffed his hands in his pocket and turned away. Akira remained standing for a moment, as if not realizing that Ryuzaki had gone, before she sat back on her chair, deep in thought. Ryuzaki, meanwhile went back to his laptop. But unlike what he always does, he merely sat there, staring at empty space.

* * *

Days passed slowly.

Afternoon plowed on to night. Like the nights before, Akira and Ryuzaki are both burning their midnight oil. The house was silent except for their fingers typing noisily away on their laptops. Water was kept boiling and Watari made tea for both the detectives who were both busy. Even he, Watari, was also working late tonight as Ryuzaki had him coordinate with the Kira investigation team.

Meanwhile, Akira was feeling as if her brain was dipped in a bowl of freezing water as she stared hard at the photos of the missing girls. These children, (Akira's taking the case per age group this time) were reported missing on different occasions. One girl was reported missing while bathing in a beach in Thailand. The other one was last seen in front of a bus stop and was never seen again. But the abduction of one American child was the one that Warbeck wants Akira to focus on.

Akira grunted in dissatisfaction. _Here goes the Western egoism,_ she thought as she read the news clipping Warbeck sent her. _These Westerners really thinks they're superior than other races. Everyone's making a big deal about this missing American girl while no one utters a word about the missing Thai girl…_

Pissed but determined to finish the case just the same, Akira read the news clipping for the nth time. According to the news, an American girl was reported missing one afternoon while shopping with her mother in the city of Manila, Philippines. At present, the US government is working together with the Philippine government in order to catch the kidnapper. The girl has been missing for 4 days.

_Holy crap, 4 days?!_ Akira thought incredulously. _That girl has just been missing for 4 effing days and they already make a fuss about it?! Pathetic…_

Akira closed her eyes and wallowed into her thoughts. At present, she can't still put the pieces of the puzzle together. It has been days since she started…why isn't her brain working?

Unconsciously, she touched the necklace that hung on her neck. Despite removing it out of vexation, she put it back on, feeling a little sorry to the memory that it reminded her. This necklace is special—it's not something she can just take off and throw out. James gave it to her.

Before she could wallow more into this thought, Watari had approached her and woke her up from her reverie.

"Kyoko?"

Akira looked at the old man. "Yes?" she asked politely.

"Would you want more tea?" he asked. Then with a chuckle, he said, "I made one. Again."

Akira returned his laugh. "Thanks, Watari-san. But I am busy tonight. But if you could be so kind as to give me just a cup…"

Later, holding a cup of steaming tea near her lips, Akira pieced together the possible links for her case. She still believes strongly on her Sex Trade Theory. First of all, only females are disappearing. Next, based on the photos, the females are all good-looking. However, these evidences are not true for the children.

For the children, the both male and female kids are missing. They are all nice-looking. The places where they were last found were inconsistent, so at present, with little information, Akira can't confirm any of her suspicions yet.

Taking a cautious sip, she replied to the e-mail one agent sent her. After sending it, she sighed and resumed thinking. In the middle of baffling questions about these disappearances, her mind wandered off to her only companion now in the room.

_I wonder how Ryuzaki's doing._

Taking a discreet glance at him, she saw him staring at his laptop, his thumb pressed on his lips, eyes as dead as the night. Despite the shadows under his eyes, he looked arresting, and Akira found herself staring for quite a while before she forced herself to look away.

Still new to her new "home", Akira still has a lot to learn about the way things are done in Wammy's. Ryuzaki is still quite an oddity for her, because she's still unable to get used to seeing him do queer things. Watari is almost as quiet as Ryuzaki, except that he is kind to Akira and sees to it that he is of assistance to her in her case. She has grown fond of Watari.

She sipped her tea again, which was already a bit cold. Life in Wammy's could have been a paradise for her of only she wasn't too pressured to work like a machine everyday. The place is comfortable and cozy. It was quite huge for three people and there are places in it that Akira hasn't seen yet.

A loud ring broke the silence of the night. Akira placed her cup of tea down on the table hurriedly and answered Warbeck's call in a whisper. After a few seconds, she hung up and faced her laptops. Tremendous work was still waiting for her.

With a deep sigh and a determined bite on her lower lip, Akira turned to her other readings and was soon lost into her own world.

Unknown to her…

A pair of deep onyx eyes watched her as well, thinking…

...of what goes on in _her _world.


	5. Chapter 5

"L, aren't you going to bed?"

L didn't look at Watari who spoke. "No," he replied. "I'm watching Light Yagami totally tonight."

Watari appeared behind him. "But you have been watching all his movements for the whole week now."

L took a bite off a chocolate bar. "A single minute could raise my suspicion from 5 percent to 6."

Without another word, Watari went away.

L was left in the semi-dark room. Facing the wall with many monitors, he watched as Light read—or at least pretended to read—a book. This surveillance video is connected to the ones at the headquarters, where the whole Kira investigation team is staying. Right now, L decided to stay at Wammy's rather than the headquarters because of two reasons.

One, he needs time to think alone.

Two, he needs to stay away from Light Yagami as possible. L knew that Light is Kira, but lack of physical evidence prevents L from arresting Light.

L toyed with the chocolate bar before taking a bite. He watched as Light turned off the lights as he slept. Despite the darkness, the high-resolution cameras hidden in his room granted L the access to watch Light even in his sleep.

After a few moments, even super detective L started to get weary. Watching Light Yagami sleep made L realize how late it is already in the evening. Quite sleepy, L glanced at the other monitors. One showed his empty room. The other was blank; this one is for Watari's room. Out of respect, he put out the camera there. And lastly, screen 8.

The camera showed Kyoko wide awake on her bed, doing nothing but lie on her side, facing the camera and stare. The lights in her room were all put off except for a small bedside lamp. This illuminated her face with a yellowish glow.

Weeks had already passed since Kyoko arrived. There was a change in Wammy's; L wasn't used to having a woman with him and Watari around. She isn't exactly a nuisance, in fact in some ways, she was like him. She took her case seriously; she worked almost nonstop and seemed to share his delight for strawberries. However, Kyoko was a little aloof. Aside from the basic information Watari gave him, L had learned almost nothing from the new woman around.

Looking at her with scrutinizing eyes, L watched her like he watches Light. Kyoko was lying there, doing nothing but stare at the camera. L knew that by now, Kyoko knows about all the hidden cameras littered all around Wammy's. Just then, Kyoko stirred but did not alter her position. She remained on her side, staring at nothing. L began to wonder secretly if she can fall asleep without closing her eyes. But something told him that she's not asleep yet.

L reminisced briefly at her arrival at Wammy's. Days before, Watari had already told him that a certain agent would come and stay with them.

"_Her name is Hisojima Kyoko," said Watari. "The CIA had requested us to keep her with us for the meantime as she finishes her own investigation here. I hope you don't mind."_

_L didn't look away from Light Yagami's face on his laptop. "I don't."_

_Watari walked over to him. "You might find these useful," he said. He gave L a sheet of paper. L took it carefully, using his two fingers. _

_L read the paper which contained Kyoko's information._

_Name: Hisojima Kyoko_

_Status: Single_

_Father: Hisojima Tenji (deceased)_

_Mother: Hisojima Kyoko (deceased)_

_Siblings: none_

_Birthplace: Kanto, Japan_

_Birth date: July 13, 1984_

_Age: 24_

_Occupation: NA_

_Residence: Portsmouth, England_

_Distinguishing features: NA_

_Then there was a photograph of a young girl with deep black eyes, long black hair and with a half-smile on her calm face. L stared at the photograph for a while before reading the rest of her information sheet. Most of the answers on questions about her background were NA (non-applicable) or none. L noted that she shares the same name as her mother. Whether this is true or fake, he does not know, but certainly, her identity is kept secret. _

_Before she arrived, L had instructed Watari to call him Ryuzaki for security purposes. Until he knows who Kyoko really is, that's the only time he'll reveal his real name. Besides, he knows for sure that Kyoko is not her real name; it's probably a fake identity she'll use for her investigation. _

_So when Kyoko arrived, she met Ryuzaki, not L Lawliet. _

_Kyoko arrived with Watari at Wammy's after three days. L saw the same deep black eyes and calm smile that he saw in the picture, but this time, closer and life-sized. And when she spoke to him, she didn't sound the like kind of person her bio-data tells about her. _

_She is tall; her head reaching the tip of his nose even with his slouched posture. Her shoulder-length hair is kept away from her face with a ponytail which, most often than not, is quite untidy. Kyoko has a fair complexion, not too dark but not too pale either. _

_The two of them are busy often and so there's no time for socialization. Kyoko mostly kept to her self and to her laptops, and L was busy working, especially now that catching Light Yagami has become more difficult._

_But there are just idle times when—_

Beep. Beep.

L looked around to the source of the faint sound. He saw a small cell phone blinking. He picked it up and looked at it intently. It continued to beep.

L looked away from the cell phone and to screen 8. Then he looked at the still beeping cell phone. The screen said "Warbeck calling". Glancing at screen 8, he saw that Kyoko was still awake.

Tentatively, he was about to walk towards her room when the cell phone stopped ringing. L placed it back on her table and sat back on his chair. To his surprise, Kyoko was no longer lying on the bed on her side, but was now sitting, with her face in her hands. L peered closer. It looked like she was holding, or clutching, something on her chest.

L stared at her for a long time, thinking if she could feel the intensity of his gaze through the hidden camera…

And L gazed at the anguished figure at the screen, for a very…long time.

* * *

Akira had been at Wammy's for quite some time now, and she's now used to how things are done here. Days are spent in near silence. Watari is always attentive to her and Ryuzaki's needs, and Akira learned that Watari is Ryuzaki's assistant. Meals are often skipped because of too much work. Watari is most of the time out of Wammy's to handle Ryuzaki's transactions to the outside world. Ryuzaki keeps to himself most of the time and only leaves his laptop to go to the bathroom, eat or read books from the nearby library.

After a week of staying here, Akira was already used to the presence of Ryuzaki, though they don't talk much. She has grown used to his loose white long-sleeved shirt and baggy pants and his untidy but nice-looking hair. She had grown used to hearing his monotonous voice answering her questions in monosyllables. She had grown used to seeing his dark eyes, and she had grown used to his comfortable silence. Most importantly, she had grown used to the smell of chocolates, cakes, marshmallows and other varieties of sweets accompanying her in a room.

Her stay at Wammy's is comfortable, though she inwardly wished that there's someone she could talk to. The only person she sees everyday is Ryuzaki, and he's not exactly the talkative type. She wished there was someone she could discuss the case with; unfortunately, Warbeck was the only one who she can talk to about that, and their chats become shorter as the case gets more complicated and Warbeck, busier. The increase of things to be thought of and the complexity of the case started to build up: this was taken as something positive and negative by Akira. The positive thing is, she remains focused to the case, and her need for human contact is somehow lessened and she has the tendency to relapse to her usual, aloof self. The negative thing about it is that she has even lesser time to contemplate about…things. Things that are hurting her, making her sad and things that…she just wants to think about.

One afternoon, while taking a short break from thinking and solving clues, Akira closed her laptops and closed her eyes. Breathing deeply, she could smell Ryuzaki's assortment of sweet foods, the clean and well-maintained scent of Wammy's place and the faint scent of aloe. Funny how acute one's senses become when eyesight is removed. Her sense of smell is heightened; her hearing and sense of touch become keener.

_Aloe…_she gave a small sniff. _That's definitely not me._ Her shampoo is a mixed scent of wild flowers. She opened her eyes. There's only one person in the room with her, and it's Ryuzaki.

Ryuzaki. She had grown used to seeing him crouched over his work, eating sweets and musing alone. There are rare times when he speaks to her, and most of the time, he talks to someone in his laptop, giving directions and sharing his theories and proposals about the Kira case.

The first time she saw him, she found him as an oddity, but now…he was the nearest thing to a companion she has. She doesn't see him as strange now. He was probably raised that way, given that he has been with Watari all his life and had resided in Wammy's (which is an orphanage and at the same time an institution for highly gifted children) for a long time.

She looked at him and lately, during idle moments, Akira often finds herself staring at Ryuzaki. At first, he wasn't much to look at, but as days passed…Akira starts to notice him more. There is something arresting and attractive in his deep, emotionless onyx eyes, in his impassive pale face and his detached demeanor. There is something endearing about the way he offers his assortments of sweets in a stick to her, and the way he sits in a weird fashion and wiggles his toes.

And, in all ways which Akira finds, strange, bizarre, queer and totally unheard of (in her opinion), she finds Ryuzaki…attractive.

Well, Ryuzaki is attractive, although far-fetched from the traditional standards of being handsome. He is attractive in a mysterious, furtive kind of way.

She stared at him as he turned the pages of a book in an odd manner. His presence was already something that she was used to, and it felt like she had always known him, and it felt wonderfully familiar.

Or is it just because she finds him attractive?

Akira sighed. Lately, there's just no time for feelings, no time for emotional upheaval—her time is always for her work; solving cases and bringing justice to the world.

She was already lost in thought when their eyes unexpectedly met in a stare. Akira, suddenly abashed, looked away. She was unaware of how long she was staring at him, but she was sure that she looked really stupid. Not wanting to humiliate herself more, she faced her laptops again, pretending to work when in reality, her mind was somewhere else.

And try as she might, she couldn't help but think of the way his eyes looked at her…for a very…long time.

* * *

L stirred his tea with a lollipop. Raye Penber has just been killed. With a huge probability, L suspected Kira to be behind this.

Light Yagami.

Genius.

L's musing was disturbed by a slam. Not the least surprised, he glanced at the table adjacent to his. A small mountain of files slightly obscured his vision of her, but he was able to see, nonetheless.

Kyoko had her face buried in her hands, strands of her long, black hair spilling over her table. She was still as a rock except for the rise and fall of her shoulders which indicated heavy breathing. L understood. She's probably exhausted again.

He noticed that she barely sleeps anymore these days. If she does, these are usually short naps which takes place during dinner (the only full meal she eats now) and she spends most of her time curled up in her chair or in her room, dozing off for a few minutes and taking care of her personal business (taking a bath etc.)

Lately, L noticed a certain activity that, he feared, would become a habit of his. He was getting used to watching screen 8.

And even the life-sized Kyoko at screen 8 when she's not in her room.

L sipped his tea gingerly. Reveling at the sweet taste that he had always enjoyed, he secretly wondered who the real Kyoko is. During idle moments when he's waiting for Light Yagami to slip in that he's Kira, L's eyes drifts fleetingly at Kyoko's direction.

As to why, even the great detective L doesn't know.

But at present, he doesn't bother knowing. It's enough that his eyes know.


	6. Chapter 6

Akira's hunch that the missing women are in a sex trade is becoming more evident, as well as Warbeck's theory that these women are also forced into slave labor. And whoever is doing this…must have big bucks.

Akira's computation showed that the money involved in human trafficking costs more than millions of dollars—it involves billions of dollars, as well as millions of lives.

In the past week, Akira discovered that most of the women and children were either kidnapped, coerced to work or even sold by their own relatives. Among the children victims, 90 percent are sold by their parents for the minimum amount of 2,000 dollars. Whatever happened to these children now remains a mystery.

Among the teens and women age group, most of them are fooled by what seems like legal establishments, such as a modeling agency or a massage parlor. Because of desperation, poverty, or mere curiosity, these women are fooled by people to work into these "legal establishments" and then coerced into sex labor or slave labor. The number of missing women is increasing, but what angers Akira is that nobody seemed to care after she was appointed as the detective who will solve this case.

Oh sure, when the number of women were rising and when an American couple lost their child in the Philippines, the world made such a roar upon this human trafficking issue. It was a hot topic among the nations of the world, and different organizations had promised to help. They even went into a pointless debate as on who will take over the investigation. But now that that issue is solved and that Akira was already hired to do it…the world suddenly became silent, as if Akira alone can save these women from missing.

Akira knew that even if the victims came from all over the world, there is probably just one man pulling the strings. It would've been easy if the crime is just centralized in the United States, but human trafficking is an organized crime, with groups of people operating at different levels.

Akira looked at the reports that littered her table. What was infuriating was that she couldn't establish a timeline. The victims disappeared at random times, there was no constant date. The only thing constant was the gender of the victims and the countries. Akira looked again at her summarized case report.

The countries which have the most number of missing girls are: Philippines, Czech Republic, Russia (the western side), Latvia, Norway, India…in summary, most come from East Asia and the Pacific followed by Latin America, Europe and Eurasia. The problem is, where are these women being sent to?

_They could be all over the world. _

Akira flipped to the next page. This contained the common places and people that Akira found in the victims' reports. There are different names of businesses (which are legal when she had Warbeck check them) but they are common in nature: modeling agency, massage parlors and shopping departments.

Akira paused. _Okay, these establishments attract women, especially those who need work so these modeling agencies and massage parlors etc are the perfect undercover for these syndicates. Now the question is, why do they go there?_

Akira looked at the information on these establishments again. Like before, they are scattered all over the globe. She narrowed her focus to one modeling agency (she did this for no particular reason): Page Parkes Modelling Agency, which had branches in London, Denmark, New York, Prague and—

Akira paused. Prague? That's in Czech. She quickly opened one folder containing the files of the missing women.

_Show me someone from Prague…_she pleaded silently. After 20 or so papers, she finally found three: Adela Jakub, Anna Vojteck and Nadia Martin. She quickly scanned their information sheets. Her heart skipped a beat.

_Nadia and Adela both applied for Page Parkes! But Anna, what happened to Anna?_

Akira read Anna's information sheet quickly.

"Anna Vojteck, single mother. Has a daughter named Ivanka Vojteck. Ivanka now resides in Prague with grandmother Karolina. Anna Vojteck was missing since Friday, October 17."

_That makes it a month, _Akira thought. She read on.

"Last seen with boyfriend Frederik Frantisek in Perla Hotel in Prague. Frederik now working in a call center."

Akira immediately called Warbeck using her cell phone. After two rings, Warbeck answered.

"Hello, Aisha?"

"Yes. Warbeck, I need you to investigate on Page Parkes Modeling Agency. It has branches in Prague, New York, London anywhere, but I need you to find its mother company."

"Page Parkes Modeling Agency. Wait a minute…"

Akira heard the faint sound of a laptop's keyboard.

"Got it. Page Parkes."

Akira was surprised. "That fast? It's on the FBI's database?"

Warbeck gave a chuckle. "Nah. Internet. Haha. Anyway. Page Parkes is legal."

"Are you sure you spelled it right? It's P-a-r—"

"Aisha, I know. It's Parks with an e. Parkes. I can hear the accent from you, so I know."

Akira felt a slight sinking feeling in her chest. "Are you sure it's legal?" When Warbeck said yes, Akira sighed. "Okay, whatever. Just send me the information on Page Parkes mother company. I need the lists of officers and its latest recruits also. And speaking of latest recruits, find out how old they are and where they came from okay?"

"Okay, Aisha. Got it."

"Oh, and one more. Patch me through the Czech intelligence agency. Now. Please."

Warbeck's tone was disbelieving. "The Czech Republic's intelligence agency? Why?"

Akira was getting impatient. "I have a lead, okay? So just patch me through."

"Umm, they speak Russian there. How are you going to talk to them?"

"Warbeck, just patch me through!"

"Okay, okay, sorry! Which one?"

Akira looked around. She didn't want to use her cell phones because these are confidential gadgets. Akira looked at her smaller laptop, the black one.

"Hook me through the notebook. Line 2. Got it?"

"Yeah. It'll take five minutes. So you still have the little black devil with you?"

Akira smiled a little. "If you mean the black laptop, yes, I still have it. Anyway, five minutes you say? Alright, I'll put up my face. Call me when I'm through."

Akira hung up and faced her laptop. She then activated her "internet identity" which is a black background with a bleeding rose with thorns. Because of security and privacy reasons, she keeps her identity secret, so no one ever sees her true face. A lot of people have, but do not really know who she is. When she talks to huge numbers such as this, she uses her "internet identity" (the picture of a rose), such that investigators that she had talked to using this picture had called her "The Rose" and was then shortened to R. Weird letter for a woman, but given the choice, she would've retained her own letter: A.

Akira then put on a headset: earphones with a matching microphone and connected it to her laptop. Her microphone is a high-tech gadget that sort of muffles her oice when she speaks through it, such that the receiving end would hear her voice but with distortion. That makes it harder for them to track her down. The webcam was a one-way webcam, which means that she can see them, but they can't see her. As she prepared, she caught sight of Ryuzaki looking. She gave a small smile but said nothing and continued to work. After that, she waited for Warbeck's call.

It came a few seconds later.

"Am I on now?" asked Akira.

"Nope, sorry not yet," said Warcbeck. "We have a difficulty here in the headquarters connecting you to Czech because it seems that they have a typhoon there or something."

"A typhoon?"

"We're not really sure, but something's interfering with the broadcast." He sighed. "Anyways, we're working on the Page Parkes thing, it'll come probably tomorrow. Oh, and to help you, it's 2 in the afternoon in Prague."

"Thanks, Warbeck."

As Akira waited, she looked around the room. Ryuzaki was watching her, and so she gave him a smile.

"I'm going to talk to the Czech Republic's intelligence agency," she explained. "This will be quite noisy, so uh, I'm asking forgiveness as early as now." She smiled sheepishly. "So, how are you doing on your investigation?"

"I might be going back to the headquarters within this week. There is a five percent probability that Kira is there." was his reply.

Akira's smile faded slightly. "Oh. So, you'll be staying there? How long?"

"I can't readily say for sure."

Akira nodded. "Well then. Good luck, Ryuzaki-kun."

Ryuzaki looked like he was about to say something when one of Akira's phones started ringing.

"Warbeck?"

"Aisha, you're on."

Akira gave Ryuzaki one fleeting glance before facing her laptop.

"Good afternoon, Sir."

"Good afternoon, Růže. To what do we owe this presence?"

* * *

"Good luck, Ryuzaki-kun…"

L sat back on his chair, pondering on these words. This is the first time she addressed him using his name and –kun. He watched her as she conversed with the foreign chief.

_They called her Růže. What does that mean?_

L opened his laptop and typed in the foreign word. An English translation popped up. It meant 'rose'.

_That's probably one of her fake identities. _L glanced at the long-haired girl. _But even if it's fake…it's quite suitable. I wonder…why rose?_

L looked at her once more. Her face was clouded with concentration, trying to understand the heavily accented words of the foreign chief investigator. He heard Kyoko say, "Sir, all I ask from your department is to tail Frederik Frantisek…"

Secretly, L wondered how Kyoko would solve her case. Hers involve international scenes and people, unlike his that concern only Japan. As of now, frustrating it might sound, he still can't find physical evidences that Light is indeed Kira.

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

She sighed. L watched as she took off her headphones and threw them carelessly on the table. She looked exhausted, as she slumped there on her chair, with eyes closed. L stood up and went to his snack bar. Moments later, he was beside Kyoko.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Oh, it's you. I just thought..," she said to L who was standing beside her. She sat up properly. "What's up?" she asked.

He didn't answer; instead, he gave her a stick of assorted sweets from behind him. Kyoko smiled at his gesture.

"Thank you," she said, taking the stick from him. She watched as he sat on the floor, facing her. She looked at the stick and the brightly colored marshmallows and goodies on it. She didn't take a bite.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Kyoko shook her head. "Oh nothing. I mean, nothing about this one," she raised the stick a little. "It's just that…" she sighed. "I feel like, I'm going nowhere, you know. With the case."

L watched her, not knowing what to say. He has been into dead ends before, but he always finds a way to get back on the right trail and follow a lead. So what's he supposed to tell her?

But Kyoko seemed to have her own answers.

"Maybe," she said, looking at him. "If I take a bite off this one," a smile appeared on her face, "everything will be much better. What do you think?" And before L could reply, Kyoko took a huge bite off the donut he pierced through the stick. It was jam-filled.

"It didn't do much but, it lifted my feelings up a notch," she said with a smile.

L noticed something she didn't. There was a bit of jam on the corner of her lips. Instinctively, he reached up and wiped it off with his finger.

Her cheek felt soft against his skin, and her warmth seemed to send odd shivers through him. His eyes met her onyx ones…Slowly, he withdrew his hand.

It was the first time L felt that in years. The touch of another human being.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Death Note. I am also sorry that i forgot to include in my former disclaimers that i do not own the movie "Human Trafficking" that i used as a basis for Akira's investigation. All I own here is Akira and the plot.

Thanks to everyone who reads and appreciates my story, to those who put it on alert and subscribed to it, especially to those who give me such encouraging reviews! i really love hearing from all of you. The reviews motivate me and inspires me to be a better writer. Thanks a lot to everyone!

Constructive criticism is welcome and of course, any suggestions would always be appreciated. Thank you!


	7. Chapter 7

Akira faced the mirror, contemplating on her face. There were already dark bags (although still a little faint) under her eyes due to lack of sleep. But it wasn't her eyes she was thinking of. It was _his._

Her mind flashbacked to that brief encounter awhile ago. It was fleeting, yet it was the most vivid among all that happened this week.

His touch brought a strange sensation she hadn't felt for years. Her mind went briefly blank upon the touch of his skin upon hers. And his hand lingered there, at the corner of her lips, brushing her cheek lightly. It was as if they were suspended in time.

_Why? What's different this time?_

Akira gazed back at her reflection. Deep, sharp black eyes stared back at her. _That's because you're starting to like him. _Akira shook her head, as if trying to dislodge the small voice in her head.

_I just met him,_ she replied to the small voice. _I just met him days ago. _Sighing, Akira left the mirror and started getting dressed. Her long, dark hair was wet and clung to her shoulders as she took off the towel that was covering her body. Ignoring the fact that her room is under surveillance of a hidden camera, she walked (naked) towards her closet. It took her a while before she was fully dressed.

* * *

L chewed on the strawberry shortcake slowly while watching screen 8. He noticed that lately, he's watching only two cameras: Light Yagami's and…Kyoko's.

The towel slipped from her body, and as if on cue, a large, untidy pile of folders fell from Kyoko's desk. L looked away from the screen. Kyoko's folders made quite a mess on the carpeted floor.

L stooped to pick one when he noticed something else fall. It was in the deepest part of the pile, which means that it must've been buried there. It looked like photographs.

L stood up and stared at the two photographs. One was of a young girl perched on the shoulder of a man and both were grinning happily at the camera. The young girl wore a yellow dress and a hat with flowers. It seemed like a sunny day when the photo was taken.

_Kyoko._ L deduced that the little girl on the photo was probably Kyoko when she was still young, and the man would probably be…her father.

It was the other picture that caught L's attention. On the photograph was a couple. The man had his arm around the woman's waist in a half-embrace, his face very near on the woman's. The woman had her hand pressed on the man's chest as she smiled for the camera. They both looked very happy, and L noticed the eccentric sparkles in their eyes. The couple looked young and carefree.

It was when L looked closer that his heart skipped a beat.

It was Kyoko…and on her left hand, on her ring finger…was a diamond ring.

"Yes, I was married."

L turned to the direction of the voice. There stood Kyoko, in a nightdress, her face clouded with an expression even he could not read.

She approached him and L caught the scent of wild flowers. He glanced from the photograph he held, to Kyoko who stood a little behind him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Your things fell over and it came with this." He handed it to her.

Kyoko nodded. "Yeah. It must've been buried there for ages." She peered closely to the photograph, not taking it from his hand. She was quiet for a while.

L didn't know why she wouldn't touch the photograph even if he was returning it to her. Just then, he heard her speak again.

"That's James."

L looked at the man she was pointing to at the picture. It was the young man beside the young Kyoko. He has brown hair, green eyes and a wide smile. His lips were pressed on Kyoko's forehead as he smiled contentedly at the camera.

"Your husband?"

Kyoko forced a smile. "You could say that."

L looked away quickly from the photograph. Suddenly, the picture wasn't that beautiful anymore, as if someone had erased the smile on their faces.

Once again, L handed Kyoko the picture. This time, Kyoko took it and stared.

"It was a quick marriage, the kind that you do when you're young, carefree and stupid." Kyoko let out a chuckle. "I was…nineteen then."

L merely looked at her, not speaking as she stared at her photograph.

"James and I met in England. Buckingham Palace." She sighed. "Five years and then suddenly…" she paused. L waited for her to continue, but when she didn't, he knew that she must be remembering something eminent.

She looked at L and gave a laugh that sounded mirthless to his ears. L looked at her before turning away. He went back to his abandoned strawberry shortcake. Kyoko meanwhile leaned against the arm of her chintz armchair.

"Look how young I am here," Kyoko said. "I even have these stupid bangs over my eyelids…"

L went back to Kyoko's side. Kyoko looked up at his tall figure.

"It's been so long," she said to him, her voice dropping lightly. L noticed how her face lacked the glow that she once had in her photograph. "And I've lost the ring now."

"Your wedding ring."

"Yeah. Our wedding ring. I lost it." She paused, as if waiting for his reaction. When it did not come, she said again, "Does it sound miserable?"

For the first time that night, L gave a solid answer. "No." Then, out of the blue, he gave her a strawberry.

Kyoko looked at it curiously. "Ran out of sticks?" she smiled. Nevertheless, she took the strawberry from him. "Thanks, Ryuzaki-kun." She popped the strawberry in her mouth. Her smile faded as she looked at the photograph once more.

L felt that something unfortunate happened to Kyoko and her husband. L then saw a tear caught between Kyoko's lashes.

"Where is he now?"

His monotonous voice broke the silence. Kyoko hastily wept her eyes.

"Oh, um…" she looked at him. "He's dead."

L didn't speak for a while. Kyoko looked like she was about to cry, but then she just heaved a deep breath and stared at him.

"Shot through the head in an undercover mission," she continued, her voice growing more sober. "Just five months after our wedding."

L clenched his fist as he was suddenly overcome with a strange feeling for Kyoko.

She sighed. "I guess this should be the way it is." She edged closer to him. "No emotions. Just work."

The scent of wild flowers grew stronger as L realized she stood close to him. He didn't move, though and merely stared.

L saw the difference between the Kyoko at screen 8 and the Kyoko up close. The real Kyoko felt more real, and smelled like flowers in full bloom. The Kyoko at screen 8 has blurred features, and the real Kyoko has eyes that were like mirrors, hair that was smooth (though L couldn't touch it) and skin that glowed like porcelain in the faint light.

"Goodnight, Ryuzaki-kun…"she whispered.

"Goodbye."

He followed her with his eyes as she went back to her room. L looked at screen 8 and watched as all the lights were put off.

And he knew, that this was probably the last night he'll be watching screen 8…

Or maybe not.

_I hope not..._

**Author's Notes:**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Death Note or the movie Human Trafficking where I adapted Akira's case from. All I own is Akira and the plot.**

**Well, it has been a long time. I was quite hesitant to upload this chapter because I fear that this chapter might deviate from the other chapters. I fear that this chapter might be out of place, out of character, out of context and may seem really "far" from the others I've done. Well, after days of revisions, here it is, the 7th chapter.**

**I do hope everyone supports this one as they have done on the others. If there are any suggestions for the next chapters, please feel free to let me know.**

**Thank you to everyone who reads and appreciates this story. Your continued support keeps me writing, so...go on, read and review! ;)**

**Thanks again everyone! **

**~chiO.**

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

The bright rays of the sun woke Akira. Looking sideways at her bedside clock, she realized it was already 9 in the morning. Yawning and stretching, she finished her morning rituals and stepped out of her room. Cold silence greeted her.

Akira looked around, and blinked. It was suddenly too quiet, as if life was sucked out of this room.

Timidly, she called out, "Watari-san?" No answer. She tried twice. Same result. Akira looked around and found that Ryuzaki's laptop was missing from his desk.

"Ryuzaki-kun?" she called out, unsure. There was no reply. Akira tried again and got the same effect.

"_I might be going back to the headquarters within this week."_

Akira remembered their conversation days ago. And last night…

"_Goodnight, Ryuzaki-kun."_

"_Goodbye."_

A strange gripping feeling crawled to Akira's heart. _Oh. So that was... _

Before she could delve more into these thoughts, she stopped herself. There's nothing between her and Ryuzaki, she had told herself that a couple of times before going to sleep last night and there's no point acting sentimental just because she hadn't had a man with her in a house for years.

_Okay, I was quite rude to myself with that thought, but yes. It's better if I put it that way._

Akira shook her head, as if trying to remove that part of her brain that does all these irrational thoughts. Yes, irrational because they aren't based on any physical thing. Not even a shred.

She made herself breakfast and ate quickly. So Ryuzaki and Watari had gone away, leaving her alone at Wammy's. That's good because she'll have all the space she wants to work with and be noisy about her investigation.

Before she started working though, she took time to examine all the screens that showed every room in the house. There was a blank screen. There was her bedroom (screen 8 showed the front view, but screens 9 to 11 showed the different angles) and at screen 12…she peered closer.

It was a clean room, with a bed covered in white sheets, a bedside table, and a closet. Akira noted that the room was almost…bare. The white sheets told her that the room belonged to Ryuzaki, for who else was fond of white in this place? The room seemed like it isn't being used.

_That's fitting…I haven't seen Ryuzaki sleep once…_

Akira looked down on the desk and saw something. It was a folded note. She read it.

"Kyoko-san: Ryuzaki and I will be going to the headquarters for the Kira investigation. We will be staying there for a while. I hope you don't mind our absence. Thank you."

It was signed: Watari.

Akira tossed the letter to the nearest trash bin, feeling a little disappointed.

Lately, there are only two things which she thinks about frequently: her investigation and...and Ryuuzaki.

Sighing, Akira started on her investigation, hoping that by burying herself into tremendous amount of workload, she would get her head straight and forget for all eternity her irrational thoughts concerning Ryuzaki and her.

* * *

After 4 hours…

Akira sighed and glared at her laptop, as if seeing Warbeck's face on it. She gripped her cell phone harder.

"What the hell do you mean, Warbeck?" she said to the receiver, trying hard to control the rage she feels within. "What the hell do you mean?"

"It's pretty simple, Aisha. The Czech Republic's Intelligence Agency sees no more reason to tail Frederik. So they stopped gathering information on him."

Akira could no longer control her anger. "What?!" she thundered on the receiver. "But I told them to tail Frederik whatever happens—"

"Exactly my point, Aisha. But their chief told me that Frederik is not involved in anything illegal—"

"Yet. YET. They only followed him for a few weeks; of course Frederik won't show anything illegal yet! But if only they followed him longer, they would find that he's involved in this trafficking! Why can't they see that?!" Akira stood up from her chair and started pacing.

She heard Warbeck sigh. "Actually, Aisha, we at the headquarters is the only ones who understand you. Honestly."

"I made myself perfectly clear to them—"Akira made a short impatient noise. "—is it my fault that I can't speak Russian, or…what other goddamned language?!"

"It's not the language, Aisha. It's just that to them, your ideas are quite far-fetched, I mean, you don't have other solid evidence that Frederik is connected to the disappearances aside from that one of your victims had contact with him days before she was reported missing."

Akira kicked one folder that got in her way. "That's why I am asking them to tail him! So that I'll know if he's really connected or not!" She wanted to yell in rage but somehow, she couldn't so instead, she stomped her foot and yelled at the receiver: "What's the point in researching if we already know the answers?!"

Warbeck sighed again. "Exactly." There was a minute's pause, then Warbeck said, "Was that your foot I heard?"

Akira had calmed down a bit. "Yeah. I stomped. Look, I want to be so mad right now but I can't. I just have to have something as an outlet."

"You know, Aisha," said Warbeck, "This might not be the best time to say it, but I think you're getting carried away too much."

"No I'm not."

"Maybe not, but I have another theory. Would you like to hear it?"

Akira plopped down on her seat and heaved a deep breath. "Shoot."

"I think you are emotionally suppressed."

Akira raised an eyebrow. "Emotionally suppressed? What made you say that?"

"Well, I noticed that lately, you're easy to blow up, I mean your fuse's quite short these days. You used to be someone who's totally in control of any situation you're in. Now…"

"Warbeck, you know that as detectives, we're not supposed to be emotionally attached to our cases, no matter how touching or disturbing it is."

"I have a feeling that…it's not about the case…"

"What are you—wait a minute…" Akira peered closer to her laptop. "I'll call you later Warbeck, something came up."

Without saying goodbye to Warbeck, Akira hung up and stared at her laptop. Swiftly, she started typing.

_This had better be good…_She read the latest report the headquarters had sent her. _Page Parkes Modelling Agency…_

According to the report, the company is a subsidiary of One World Company which specializes in aesthetics; this includes cosmetics, fashion and of course, modeling agencies. So far, everything seemed legal, and the president of the company, Harold Martinez, seemed to be a scandal-free and legitimate businessman.

Akira leaned back and rested her eyes for a few minutes. This is gonna be another long day for her.

In her mind, she recounted how many suspects she had ordered to be followed secretly. At present, she asked her team to tail 20 individuals. She was sure that half of it, or even just a quarter, would be guilty. And even if the chance of catching the criminal is just a meager one percent, she'll have the whole world investigated if needed.

She opened her eyes once more and faced her two laptops.

_Alright, Akira…let's move on._

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­After a few more hours…

For some strange reason, Akira found herself bored that afternoon, considering that her case has escalated very slowly this week and that she has a lot of thinking to do. Feeling hungry, she stood up and searched for anything to eat on the snack bar.

There was nothing there except sweets, sweets and more sweets. Akira picked one bowl of gummy bears. Remembering her usual snack when she was still in Portsmouth, she opened the fridge and took a carton of milk. Pouring it to the bowl, she made all the gummy bears swim in milk. She popped in a couple of strawberries and then sat down in front of her laptops to eat.

The house was quiet except for her slurps and the occasional beeping sound of her laptops as she received more emails. Ignoring her investigation for a while, she looked around.

For the first time today, she realized that she's completely alone. There was no other human being in Wammy's aside from her, and strange as it may sound, she felt lonely.

She had been living on her own for practically more than half of her life. Sure, she had an uncle who raised her but he was away most of the time so that she left alone (he was an agent too for the CIA) and as early as 16, she has been solving cases for her uncle and was secretly recruited by the CIA (it was done in secret because she is not yet eligible to work legally). By 18 she began working as a detective for minor cases. This was the start of her mysterious persona, where she kept her true self secret and always presented other people with fake identities. When she was 19 she began her first important case which involved a politician who was funding the underground black market. She finished it in a month, which earned her an elite status in the CIA and the international intelligence scene. Then she started on a new case promptly, this time in Britain. Akira had lived her early childhood in Japan and formative and teen years were spent alternately both in America and England. When she was 19, she went to Britain. There, she met James.

James was 3 years older than she was. Their fairytale life was pure bliss and after 6 months of dating, James popped the grand question. Akira remembered how that day was.

_She was walking along the paved road when suddenly, masked men in full battle gear stopped her and pointed guns at her. She turned around to escape, but her way was blocked by the British police. They yelled commands at her to put her hands up in the air. Bewildered, Akira obeyed._

_Just then, police cars came, followed by a black van where Warbeck emerged. By this time, Akira was already being handcuffed. _

"_John Watson, FBI" said Warbeck, showing the police his fake FBI id. "That's my agent you're holding and as far as I'm concerned she has done no crime while here in the British soil."_

_The British police did not release Akira. "Sir, we have received information that this woman has ensnared—"_

"_I didn't do anything!" Akira protested._

"..._me_"_finished one deep voice. _

_Akira turned to the direction of the voice and saw one masked man in a full combat suit walking towards her. _

"_You're guilty," said the man._

"_B—but I—I--…" Akira stammered. _

"_Release her."_

_Akira's handcuffs were removed and Akira stared in incomprehension. Then she broke into a laugh as the man removed his mask and revealed his face. It was James. _

_He smiled at her apologetically. "I'm sorry I scared you," he said grinning sheepishly. The other police officers backed slowly. "I just thought that you might like a different approach."_

_Akira smiled, still a little confuse. "Approach on what? If you want to talk to me, you can always just come and—"_

"_Yeah, but today I'm gonna ask you to marry me so I just can't come over and pop the question, can I?"_

_Akira stared at him, her mouth open. Marry? _

_James took a ring from his pocket and knelt in front of her. _

"_So, in front of all these policemen that are in cahoots with me, the FBI special agents that are watching us from their special posts and through their specialized gadgets, within the earshot of all the CIA special detectives that are listening to every word I'm saying right now through hidden earpieces around, I am asking you, my dear, if you would like to marry me."_

_Akira felt as if her heart stopped beating. She looked around and true enough, she saw hidden binoculars and gadgets gleam in the sunlight. She saw Warbeck and other policemen saying something to their walki-talkies and she saw some civilians whispering in their lapels—undercover agents—obviously these are all in cahoots with James. _

_She looked down lovingly into those green eyes that were staring back at her just as lovingly. Nodding, she gave him her answer._

_Immediately and simultaneously, Akira heard the words "Mission accomplished!" being whispered over walki-talkies and yelled over radios. Warbeck was giving "success signals" at the hidden agents over the rooftops of buildings. _

"_Disperse! Disperse!"_

_Slowly, the police started to move out, giving their congratulations to James who was already crushing her in his arms due to so much happiness. _

_When everyone has gone away, Akira heaved a deep breath. _

"_You'd go that far?" she asked in almost a whisper. _

_James smiled and brushed her cheek with his thumb. "Anything for you."_

_Akira grinned and leaned closer. "You prat. I love you," she murmured. _

_And they kissed._

_They got married the following month, with only 4 witnesses: James' sister and his mother, and Akira's uncle and Warbeck (who was just invited to complete the requirement of 4)._

_And five months after, James was shot in the head. _

Akira opened her eyes at that memory, not wanting to have her eyes remain close and see the lifeless eyes of James staring back at her.

The tears have dried up; there were nothing left to cry. The grief that she always carried with her when she was still in England was starting to ebb away. Akira sighed.

_It's time to move on. I'm young, I have plenty of time…I can resign from this detective work whenever I want._

She frowned at her last though. _Resign? And where will I go after this? To me…this is the life I've always known…_

Akira looked around, her eyes searching the place. _I wish there was someone I could talk to…_

A beep from her laptop woke her from her reverie. She looked at the black laptop which had just received a new message.

She remembered what had always told herself: Emotions can be detrimental in everything. It's a lesson that life has taught her over and over again.

Sighing, she faced the black laptop and read. Squaring her shoulders, she began to work.

* * *

Days passed slowly. Akira buried herself into her investigation more and more, to the point that she seldom sleeps and has already developed a habit of eating strawberries day in and day out.

As she worked harder everyday, Wammy's House became more silent; as opposed to what Akira thought would happen. When Ryuzaki and Watari left, she thought that she could have the whole place and be noisy whenever she wants to yell at Warbeck. But after working her ass hard for days, she realized that there was nothing much to yell about because lately, she spends all her time thinking rather than talking. And it was far more stressful than anything she had done.

One day, while musing over her latest development on the case, Akira paused and looked at screen 1, the one that showed the entrance to Wammy's. Many times she had looked at it and seen nothing. However, she still hoped that…someone would show up.

Today, it was empty like always. Akira yawned and stretched her arms over her head. It has been four days.

She was starting to get lonesome.

There was just no sign of life in Wammy's aside from hers and she needed another being to be with. Sure she had Warbeck and the other investigators to talk to, but aside from that, she had no other human contact. And Akira realized that what she had been missing for years now was not some adventure, or a vacation but the mere…touch of another human.

Silently, Akira tried to remember the last embrace James gave her. She tried to relieve it, to feel it once more. She closed her eyes and sighed. The embrace she tried to remember did not make her feel any better. In fact, it only made her feel lonelier.

She looked at the desk where Ryuzaki was always perched behind. It was empty. It's not that she misses him already; it's just that…it felt different not to have that tall, white-clad, barefooted stranger working with her. That stranger that she finds…oddly attractive…

Attractive and…something else…

Akira sighed. _The more I think of this, the more miserable I'll feel. _

_C'mon, just admit it Akira, _said a small voice inside her head. _You miss _him.

Akira chose to respond to that little voice. After all, she had been ignoring it for days.

_I don't. I don't…know. _

_There's nothing wrong in admitting it._

_There is. The fact that I'm having this—childish crush—on some weird guy I just met is wrong. _

The voice in her head was persistent. _Technically speaking, it's not wrong. You're not hurting other people. There's nothing wrong in admiring a person from the opposite sex. Why don't you just admit that you like him and you miss him?_

Akira sighed. _Gah, I don't know what to think anymore. Here I am, thinking of Ryuzaki when…I really don't know him. _

_You didn't know James that well, either. _

Akira bit her lip upon that realization. That was true, she can't deny it. But what's that got to do with Ryuzaki? And why is she even thinking of him in the first place?

She paused. Then sighed.

"Because I miss him," she said to herself quietly.

But really, is it possible to like a stranger in just a couple of days and then miss him when he's gone for a week? She didn't miss James like that before…well that's because they were assigned in the same case and sees each other everyday.

Akira opened her eyes and looked at the place where she could see Ryuzaki everyday. What's there to miss? They didn't talk much.

But they stared at each other much…most of the time.

Akira remembered those moments when she would just stare at him, contemplating on his features which she found odd yet…beautiful in her eyes…

And those moments when he would offer her sweets…

And that night when she told him that she was married. She could still remember his face then clearly. His eyes were intensely focused on her photo with James when she found him. His face had a cloud of emotions she couldn't read. She wasn't able to read him even in the beginning anyway.

And then that afternoon…

Akira remembered the touch of his finger on her lips, the back of his palm gently brushing his cheek…and his eyes…

Those deep, dark eyes that was staring back and were like onyx mirrors…

Akira heaved a deep breath. _It certainly felt different being touched like that…and it's one of the things I miss…but…_

Akira's rational brain, that part where anything related to emotion is trashed, protested.

_But is it enough to like him? Do you even like him?_

_I don't know. Maybe I do, maybe I don't…_

The reason she couldn't like him, said the rational part, was that she doesn't know anything about him. She just met him for the first time in her life and two weeks is not enough to like Ryuzaki.

Akira sighed. She would like to agree with her rational-brain, but her emotional side tells her otherwise. This isn't an investigation anymore where she can separate her emotions from her thoughts, and this time, emotions matter. As much as she wants to think that she likes Ryuzaki, a part of her says that it's impossible. How can you like someone you've just met? And the 'like' involved here is more than the platonic 'like' a person experiences in the presence of new people. This 'like' is more of an…emotional attachment.

And putting it simply, Akira is starting to be 'emotionally attached' to a stranger who doesn't wear shoes, wears nothing but jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt, has unruly hair, and eats nothing but sweets: Ryuzaki.

And she doesn't even know his real name.

But the emotional side, the one that's really confused, is saying the opposite: _You like Ryuzaki. _And for the plain reason of missing him, the emotional side seems to win over the rational side. Face it; do you miss someone you hate?

Akira let out a low groan. Why does it have to be complicated?

She sighed, placing her thoughts in control.

She wants to see him again, that's a fact, because she's getting lonely not having someone to—not talk to, but—stare at during long hours of work. And he's the nearest thing to a companion she could have these days.

And the emotional side of her says that she misses him for the simple fact that…Akira sighed. She misses him because she likes him. There.

But then…

The harsh reality is that those lost, spontaneous moments with Ryuzaki are nothing but…moments of split-second stupidity and exhaustion from work.

Nothing more.

Akira buried her face in her hands. There are just two solutions to this: either Ryuzaki comes back as early as possible or, she'll have to talk with someone.

Seeing as she can't really do the first option, Akira took her smallest cell phone and dialed a number. After two rings…

"Yup, Warbeck."

"Hey," Akira said lamely.

"Aisha? What's up? Got a problem?"

Akira smirked. "If you consider having dead brain cells and zit breakout a problem, then yes, I have a problem."

"Oh." Warbeck chuckled. "So what's up? How're you doin' with the case?"

"Oh, uh," Akira cleared her throat a little. "I'm going steady. I bullied those Czech people to follow Frederik and I just got the report that Frederik was last seen with Anna in the airport. Flight was Prague to New York."

"And the Mexican lady?"

"According to her friend Marietta, Carlota—that was the Mexican girl's name—was hurrying from a niece's quinsenera to make it for her runway shoot. That was the last time she was seen."

"Quinsenera? What—"

"Traditional Mexican celebration," replied Akira with impatience slightly flavoring her voice. She didn't call Warbeck for this. "Celebrates the girl becoming a woman at 15. That's why it's quinse."

"Ohh…You know a lot." Warbeck paused. "Aisha…what's really wrong?"

Akira heaved a deep breath. "Ah! Warbeck!"

"What?"

"I need expert advice."

"What?"

"I need expert advice. From you. Now."

"Aisha, you know full well that you're the better man between us and I can't match your highly evolved brain when it comes to solving mysteries."

"Warbeck, this isn't about work. It's about…"

"Oh. I get it."

There was a pause between them, as if both of them was thinking of how to go on. Finally, Akira asked, "Warbeck, have you ever felt so…lonesome?"

Warbeck sighed. "Yes. During my first divorce. I was pretty lonesome then."

"I mean, really, really, lonesome. Like…the loneliest you've ever been. You ever felt like that?"

There was a pause before Warbeck answered. "Yes." He paused for a while before continuing quietly, "When—when my mother died. I've never felt lonelier than that. Not even when I met Hanna (his first wife) did that loneliness fade away." Warbeck sighed. "Why do you ask?"

Akira bit her lip before replying. "Because…I feel lonely…these past few days…"

Warbeck's tone was dead serious. "And who do you miss most lately?"

A long silence ensued as Akira pondered on how to answer Warbeck. But it was Warbeck who answered it for her—or more appropriately, attempted to answer.

"How thick could I get?" said Warbeck. "Of course, it's James. Aisha, I'm sorry for—"

"No."

"…What?"

"No. Warbeck…" Akira let out a long sigh. "it's…It's not…"she found it difficult to get the words out of her mouth. "Well…it's not really…James I'm thinking of…it's…" Akira plopped down on her seat and let out a noise. "Well—there's someone—"

"A new guy?"

"Yeah, and—argh! I just meet him days ago and now he's just…he went away for a while and now…"

"Aisha, you could start by telling me his name."

"Ryuzaki. That's all I know and that's not even his real name."

"How do you know?"

"He's an agent too. He's…" Akira sighed. "He stays here with me in Wammy's."

"Oh. The man you said…" Then Warbeck was silent.

"W-Warbeck?" Akira said after the pause. "I'm serious."

"I know. Aisha, go on."

Akira felt thankful that Warbeck was taking her seriously. She sighed and started. "I know this sounds silly and childish but I am confused. I told myself years ago that James…is important. He still is, but…it all feels different now. When I think of him, the feeling's just…not the same, as if…I see him as…" Akira sighed. "When I look at his photograph I don't feel sad anymore. It feels like…I'm just looking at a person I never knew. And it's strange because he's my husband! I'm supposed to love him, right?"

"And you loved him, Aisha. I know you did, truly and deeply. But things have changed since then."

"I know. But seeing Ryuzaki…" his face flashed briefly in her mind. "It sort of…I felt sort of…" Akira couldn't bring herself to say it. It felt wrong.

Warbeck said the word for her. "Guilty."

"Yes. And it's wrong."

"Aisha, maybe you're being too hard on yourself. If you really like this new guy, then give yourself a new chance."

"I don't even know if I like him! And that's exactly the problem I was to consult you about." Akira stopped pacing. She started to tell Warbeck of her thoughts just a while ago and related some of the things that happened between her and Ryuzaki…those tiny moments of interaction. After a pause, she said, "I just met him and I know nothing of him. How could I like him? How could I _even _miss him?"

"Because you like him."

Akira closed her eyes. "_I don't know_. I think I do, but I also think…I don't know what to think anymore."

Warbeck sighed. "Aisha, you think too much. Why don't you start feeling too? After all, you're still human."

Akira opened her eyes and bit her lip in thought. "So you're telling me to just go with it?"

"Roughly said, but in essence, correct. Look, remember what James said when you got married? You know, that part when the groom says something to his wife?"

Akira nodded, though Warbeck can't see her through the receiver. "Yeah."

"And do you remember what he said about handing you a folder when you first met each other at Buckingham?"

Akira's heart started beating fast. "Yeah…"

"He said that when he touched your hand, when his skin got in contact with yours, even for just the tiniest second, he felt that it was you. It was you he wants to spend his life with. With the mere touch of your hand…it was enough to let him feel complete." Warbeck paused. "And I think that's what happened between you and Ryuzaki."

"But it's impossible—"

"Aisha, I may not be the best authority on this, but listen: just because it happened to you before, doesn't mean it can't happen again. Just because that realization of wanting to be with someone by just a mere touch happened to you with James doesn't mean it can't happen again to you and Ryuzaki or any other man that may come your way. I'm not saying that you love Ryuzaki, but all I'm saying is that you give yourself another chance. If you feel something special for this guy, then don't restrict yourself. I'm sure James would want you to be happy again. Even in the presence of another one."

Akira was silent, reflecting on what Warbeck told her. He was right. Why was she stopping herself?

"Aisha?"

"Warbeck…thank you."

"You're always welcome."

"Oh, and I miss him. His eyes most especially."

Akira couldn't see him but she was sure Warbeck smiled. "Well maybe you'll see his eyes soon. You know, Aisha, I've always had big dreams for you and one of them is that you'll find someone who will truly complete you. I hope that happens in my lifetime."

Akira couldn't see him but she was sure Warbeck smiled. "Well maybe you'll see his eyes soon. Who knows?"

"Yeah, who knows? Thanks so much, Warbeck. I don't know what I'd do without you…"

"Nah. Don't mention it. So…let me ask you something."

"Sure."

"How does this Ryuzaki look like?"

Akira let out a laugh. "Well, he's…" she described him, his love for sweets and his odd mannerisms. She heard Warbeck chuckle.

"I'd say you have weird taste," said Warbeck.

Akira grinned.

After a few more chit-chats, Akira hung up. She was once again left alone to her thoughts.

_There's nothing wrong in liking Ryuzaki. And there's nothing wrong in getting a life…_

Suddenly feeling extremely tired as if she had climbed a mountain, Akira slumped on her arm chair and fell into deep slumber, with the image of his deep eyes and the touch of his skin clear in her mind.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Finally! I'm so sorry for the really, really, really late update. I'm quite busy with school (especially now that I have classes everyday except on Sundays) so finishing Silent Funeral is a little difficult to do so lately. Don't worry, during our Christmas break, I'll really work hard on this fanfic.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Death Note and the movie Human Trafficiking which I used to pattern Akira's investigation. All I own is Akira.**

**Well another reason why this took a long time is because I was totally hesitant to post this one. I was aware that Akira acted a little...out of her age in this chapter and it's a little bit fluffy. Also, I am aware that this does not live up to the mood and character of the past chapters. I actually had a hard time writing this one because I was afraid (yes, most of the time) that I might ruin the beauty of the past chapters I've done. Put simply, I fear that I might not live up to the "Silent-Funeral-expectation".**

**Anyways, I'm really sorry for posting this late. I will do my best to continue to delight you with what i hope would be awesome chapters to follow. Thanks for the support and please keep the reviews coming. Constructive criticism and suggestions are always, always welcome.**

**Thanks everyone and good luck!**

**~chiO.**


	9. Chapter 9

"Ryuzaki?"

L looked up at Aizawa, who was standing in front of him. "What is it, Aizawa-san?"

Aizawa hesitated for a moment before speaking once more. "Raye Penber has died and we know that Naomi is privately investigating her fiancée's death. And you still think Light Yagami is behind all these?"

L bit a part off his chocolate bar. "Yes. He was on the bus where Penber was last seen. Penber died afterwards. And my suspicions of Light remain at 5 percent."

The investigation team looked at each other. Things had gone awry during L's absence. Since they have removed the surveillance cameras from the Yagami household, they all thought that Light was already off the hook. But when Raye Penber died…

"Do you plan on having Light followed again? And Misora-san?"

L took a sip from his sweetened tea before answering. "Yes."

As the team moved about, L continued to think about Yagami Light, his prime suspect. Just how to pin him down, L doesn't know yet. Being the genius that Light is, fishing the truth out of him by mere surveillance would be quite impossible.

But impossible isn't really impossible for the master detective. There's got to be a way…there _will_ be a way.

As he mused over the chances of getting Light caught and have him confess, L heard a faint beep from one of the monitors they've set up in the headquarters. He looked up, then looked away.

Screen 8 was different this time. It showed not what he used to see.

"Ryuzaki."

Once again, L looked at the newcomer that entered the premises. It was Yagami Soichiro, chief investigator for the case and, Yagami Light's father.

L was silent for most of the time that the team was planning and working. However Soichiro asked him of his opinions on the current happenings.

L turned his swivel chair to look at Soichiro. "I still have suspicions that Light is Kira. It remains at five percent."

Soichiro frowned. He always does whenever L expresses his suspicions about Light, nevertheless, Soichiro respected L's opinions and judgment. "So, my son is not of the hook yet, is he? What's our next plan?"

L merely blinked and did not answer. Instead, he turned his chair around and faced his laptop.

The next move…

* * *

"You're going back?"

L removed the lollipop from his mouth. "There is something I have to do there."

Watari sighed. "But the investigation's in a fast pace now."

Silence ensued as L placed sugar cubes on top of one another. Reaching a tower of seven blocks, the sugar tower fell.

"I need to think."

Watari stared at L for a while before nodding silently. Wearing his hat, he stepped out of the room to leave L in his thoughts.

Meanwhile, L pondered on his decision to go back to Wammy's.

He definitely needed to think, that's true. But there's another reason that made him want to come back to Wammy's.

Another reason he can't accept just yet.

A feeling he can't understand but feels strongly, frequently…

_K—_

L pressed a thumb to his lips. But if he leaves the investigation team now, he could miss a lot of things. Will he exchange that important mission to his 'selfish' interests? Isn't finding and punishing Kira more important than…

L took a marshmallow and ate. He'll leave Watari. Yes. He'll leave Watari with the team until he gets back from his visit from Wammy's. He'll leave Watari with the team until he's cleared his mind off the things that's boggling him even in the darkest and latest of nights.

L ate another marshmallow.

He's going back tomorrow. Alone.

* * *

"What is the British doing? They're not supposed to interfere; this isn't a matter of their national security!"

Akira threw a goaded glance at the latest memo she received. Warbeck's words don't really register on her mind much as she half-listened.

"You know very well that I am on your side, Aisha," said Warbeck over the phone. "But don't forget whom you are working for."

"I work for the CIA and the FBI _at present, _not the British intelligence so I am not accountable to them!"

"You may be based at the CIA and FBI _at present _because of the cases you've solved so far. But remember, you once solved cases for the Japanese government, so during that time, you belonged to them. The CIA and the FBI is your employer for the past years because of the cases you've solved for them. Though you started working for the US government, the US government doesn't really own you."

"And your point?"

"The point is, the world owns you now, Aisha. You work for the UN, remember? The UN hired you for this case. _UN: _United Nations, with emphasis on the 's'. And being UN, well, the British have a say on this as much as the Americans do."

"Well I am not working for the British, so tell them to get out of this," Akira retorted.

"But you are working for the UN, in which the British are part of."

"Yes, but have you seen any other country interfering with this? No. One of my past cases was solved for the Japanese government and I didn't hear, not even once, that the Chinese government or any other governments interfere with that case." Akira paused before venting out, "So why do I receive this memo and hear over the internet that the case is taking too long?! I am working my ass out here, you tell them that!"

"I know that, _we _know that. But, well some of the ladies that were missing came from European countries. You can't blame them…"

Akira heaved a deep breath. "I don't need any more interruptions, Warbeck. I want to focus on this. I told myself that I'll finish the case in one month and today's the third week and I am barely half-finished. If the British want to speed this up, then tell them…" Akira paused for a while. "Tell them…tell them to lend me some of their men and help me finish this fast. I need more agents and the way the rest of the world is acting, I might finish this case in a year. And by which time…everything might be too late."

She heard Warbeck clicking his tongue against his teeth, which was his habit whenever he's thinking. After a pause, he said, "You know, we can't really give orders like that. Besides, you don't have to react to that memo."

"But—"

"You are frustrated that you haven't solved it yet, I know. But Aisha you don't have to rush this."

"I am not rushing, I am merely pissed by the fact that these people, the suspects, seem to be…invisible! And I know they're not."

A loud beep intercepted their conversation.

"What's that?" asked Aisha. "Seems it came from your line."

Warbeck sighed. "Yup. Sorry Aisha, but I have to cut this short. I'll be in touch. Bye."

Akira heaved a deep breath after hanging up. As always, Akira was venting out her frustrations at Warbeck. The latest development on the case was that the Page Parkes Modeling Agency, where two Czech women applied, is a legal establishment. According to their latest investigation, Page Parkes indeed hired Nadia Martin and Adela Jakub. However, when Akira looked at the picture of these two women that the agency hired, she saw that they did not resemble her two victims.

_They could be lying. Or it could also be the truth, as there are many Nadias and Adelas all over Czech. _

To be sure, Akira made her men look for the identities of the women in the pictures the modeling agency gave her. And Akira's hunch was correct, Page Parkes is lying.

Akira asked Warbeck to keep an eye on the other establishments of One World Company and to search for Nadia Martin and Adela Jakub in any of these establishments. Meanwhile, Akira was tracking down the Mexican lady that got lost after her niece's quinsenera. Asking a Mexican agent working for her, she asked him to track down the lady's activities during that day. According to the information gathered, the lady was last seen in a party somewhere near the university she attended. Akira asked her Mexican agents to spy on the university grounds and interrogate all the participants of the party about the victim's disappearance. At present, the agents are giving her a daily report. The negative side of that…there is still no news of the missing woman.

As for the American child that was kidnapped in the Philippines, Akira suspected that the girl is probably taken to a bar frequented by pedophiles. Why? Because the petty syndicates that kidnap kids to make them beg are a far-fetched suspect. Seeing an American child beg would not be effective in a country like the Philippines. So, Akira asked the NBI (the Filipino counterpart of FBI) to send her all the lists of their local bars with the corresponding information. The list was sent to her a week after, which made Akira irritated at their slow pace but at the same time made her pity the state of the Philippine intelligence agency.

Of course, when she asked Warbeck about the other information on these bars, they all came out clean. So Akira knew that the bar where the girl was taken is an illegal one. She is now—or more appropriately Warbeck (because he's the one who takes care of her international communications)—cooperating with the Philippines' NBI and Manila Police Department. Their police showed her many suspects, but Akira gets the feeling that these petty kidnappers do not have the guts and money to kidnap a foreign kid. The suspect must be someone big and influential. However, any of these petty kidnapers could be working for someone else more powerful.

Akira also had Warbeck check for any latest records on illegal boundary crossing between that of Mexico and America. She suspects that the women are brought in America or probably shipped there first before being sent to other countries. In other words, Akira believed that her suspect is an American.

Busy as she is, Akira barely had time for herself, except to take a bath, brush her teeth and do personal things. Other than that, it has been two days since she preened herself in front of a mirror.

Hours after concluding that the Thai girl she was investigating on days ago was smuggled overseas, Akira decided to take a break. She hadn't slept decently for two consecutive weeks and besides, _I might get the answers in my sleep, _Akira thought.

Dragging herself to her room, Akira sighed and closed her eyes. Sleep. Yes, sleep. That's what she wants right now…

Her mind had one last thought as she lied down and drifted to slumber.

What does she want right now?

Sleep.

And…

…_him. _

* * *

The steady hum of the conditioner and the gentle rays of sunlight coming in from her windows' blinds woke her. Blinking, she fumbled for her watch by the bedside table. Slightly squinting, she saw that it was already 9 in the morning.

Yawning and stretching as she got out of bed, she stepped out of the room and peered. No one was there, and the mess she left last night on her table was still as messy as it has always been. Scratching her head, Akira went back to her room.

Just like everyday, she started with her morning rituals.

_Same old routine._

* * *

L looked outside the window, oblivious of the scandalized stares the woman beside him and the other passengers are giving him. He gets those stares whenever he sits down. Pressing his thumb against his lips, he stared as the blurred images of buildings danced before his eyes as the train he was on sped fast.

He was on his way to Wammy's, despite the complaints of most of the investigation team. Soichiro and Watari said nothing but the others were vocal about their disapproval. He reminded them that he's not going on a vacation, rather he's going away to think better of the case. It took Soichiro's yell to silence the headquarters down. L then left everything at Watari's care.

Despite the calm, aloof aura he emits, inside him, there's this odd feeling he simply cannot put a name on. Lately, L has been feeling…things…that he had never felt before towards anyone or anything. It baffles him as much as the Kira case is. And he was hoping that going back to Wammy's would give him the answers.

The train was nearing the station. L looked down at his untied shoes and blinked.

As L entered the threshold of the home he'd always known, he noticed that the place looked almost exactly as he left it. His table was left untouched, the chess pieces were stationary and the positions were exactly as he left them. His snack bar however has changed. The gummy bears were gone; instead it was replaced by a jar of assorted lollipops. L took one from the jar and immediately ate it.

_She _was not around. He walked over to the monitors and looked. Screen 8 was empty. And so are the other screens.

L looked closer, and closer still. _Where is she?_

L turned away from the monitors, thinking.

Could she have finished the case and left?

* * *

Akira wrapped the towel around her body as she stepped out of the shower. As she gathered her discarded clothes on the floor, she realized something: the necklace was gone.

Alarmed, she looked at the small cabinet on top of the sink where she puts the necklace before she takes a bath. The necklace was not there.

Slightly panicking, she stepped out of the shower and looked for it inside her cabinet, the bedside table, the bed, the dresser…it was nowhere to be found.

Akira heaved a deep breath and hoped that the she left the necklace on her table. If ever she lost it, she would never forgive herself. She had lost her wedding ring once; she wouldn't lose the necklace again.

Still dripping wet and barefooted, she stepped out of her room and proceeded to her working table, her heart beating fast. Searching for the necklace anxiously, she paid no heed that she was wet, or that she wasn't alone.

She finally found the necklace and with a sigh of relief, put it on around her neck. She looked at it for a while, thanking God for it. With her anxiety gone, she decided to get dressed already. She turned around, and stared directly into two, dark eyes.

Akira gave a startled gasp. It was only at the recognition of that pale face that she closed her eyes, sighed deeply out of relief and leaned back against the table as if suddenly weak. She looked at the man.

"My god, Ryuuzaki! You scared me!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," Ryuuzaki apologized, his eyes boring into hers.

Akira nodded but could not find the words to say to him.

Despite the fright and surprise she felt awhile ago upon seeing him, now that it had all subsided, Akira suddenly felt a strange, overwhelming feeling in her chest upon seeing those eyes that she missed.

How strange it was for her to see those emotionless eyes stare back at her, those eyes that she was anxious to see again. And now that he's here…she was suddenly at lost as to what to tell him, or even what to do.

Akira was suddenly aware of their proximity, the way he stood too near, the way his face seemed to loom close to hers. Pale and impassive, Ryuzaki wore his usual outfit of white, loose long-sleeved shirt and baggy jeans. The exemption was that he was wearing sneakers, with the laces untied. Despite his odd appearance, Akira deemed him charming, and the thought that he was just inches away from her made her heart beat like snare drums.

Finally getting the courage to speak, Akira heaved a deep breath.

"So, uh…what...What's up?" Akira bit her lip upon realizing how stupid she must have sounded. "I mean," she cleared her throat a little, "What made you come back?" she added, her voice steadier and more confident this time.

Ryuzaki took the lollipop from his mouth and replied. "I have to take care of the Kira case from afar this time."

"Oh." Akira tried to conceal the disappointment that's bubbling in her chest. "Right." She bowed her head a little and a short pause ensued.

That's when she noticed that she was wearing nothing but a towel around her naked form.

She gasped, unable to hide it from Ryuzaki. Here she was, talking to a man, dressed in nothing but a towel. She blushed a deep crimson and bit her lip out of humiliation.

"Umm…I-I-I…uh…I was---um…" she stammered as she forced herself to look up at Ryuzaki who was silent and impassive as always. She gripped the table behind her harder as she tried to conceal her humiliation.

"I—I'll just…you know," she took a sharp intake of breath as the towel slipped a little. She held it against her tightly. "I'll just…get dressed." She said the last two words in almost a whisper. Without another word, she sped back to her room, her face hot with shame.

The mechanical doors closed soundlessly after her.

* * *

L followed the girl with his eyes as she practically ran away from him. Putting his lollipop back in his mouth, he looked away and looked down at his shoes.

He was expecting to see her. But he was not expecting to see her like _that._

His eyes focused on screen 8. There she was, in front of the mirror, and—

L looked down on his shoes and turned away from the monitor, just in time as her towel slipped down her body. L went to his desk and set up his laptop.

He told himself that the reason he came back here and separated himself from the rest of the investigation team was that he needed time to think—alone and undisturbed. But, as hard as he tries to deny it, he knows that the two of them, Kyoko and him, alone together here in Wammy's, would prove to be the distraction he most wanted to avoid.

L bowed his head for a while and pressed his thumb on his lips.

Somehow, he'll be able to work things out, as he always does.

* * *

_Silly git! WHY the hell, didn't I put on some clothes before talking to him?! WHY?! _Akira asked herself as she hastily put on her jeans and zipped it close.

She glanced at the camera in her room, and she secretly wondered if he was watching. She dismissed this idea swiftly as it had entered her mind, reasoning that Ryuuzaki didn't look like the kind to spy on dressing women. But still…that STUPID moment earlier was just plain humiliating.

Akira finished putting on a sleeveless purple top and a thin form-fitting white sweater that was made of a slightly transparent willowy fabric. She put on her slippers and sighed in front of the mirror.

"I was really stupid, wasn't I?" she asked her reflection. And in her mind, a small voice answered, "Yes".

* * *

Kyoko appeared moments later, fully dressed this time. L glanced at her over his laptop and then forced himself back to focus on his work, keeping the distraction she created at bay.

He saw her sit in front of her laptop and started typing. A faint smell of flowers lingered in the air.

L pressed a thumb against his lip and thought, for a while…

_Why did I come back?_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own death note. **

**Okay everyone. I'm sorry for the late update. I was quite busy with school and only got a few weeks to work on this. I'm sorry if the story was put on quite a long hiatus. I promise to be better next time, I promise. ;) Anyways, thank you for reading and of course constructive criticism is always appreciated. Read and review, folks!**


	10. Chapter 10

Akira leaned back on her armchair and opened a folder. Reading silently, she ignored the hunger pangs, the continuous beep of her laptop and the wave of exhaustion coursing through her body.

_Later_ she told herself. _Rest would come later, I promise…_

It was already past 2 in the afternoon, and Akira's stomach had not tasted lunch yet. Just like the days before, Akira viewed food and sleep as privileges, something that came after work, some sort of reward. And it is with this view that she chose to skip lunch today and work like a machine.

To her left, Ryuuzaki was as silent, looking at something on his laptop. Akira returned to reading a file after glancing at him.

Earlier that day, Akira checked out the websites that are connected to One World Company. She compared these websites to top rated pornography sites, hoping to see some similarities and connections. The pornography sites offered the same services: one-on-one cyber sex, live shows, sex toys etc. On the other hand, the One World Company website offered beauty products, anti-aging creams, modeling opportunities and free trials of their products. Akira found the search for any suspicious activity boring, and was about to leave the sites when she noticed something.

"Meet the world's hottest chicks. 2 online…"

The advertisement piqued Akira. Instantly, an idea came to her.

Akira clicked on the link and waited for the webpage to load. Meanwhile, she opened one of her files on the missing women.

The pornographic site finally loaded. The site required her to sign up first. Akira hesitated for a while. What she is about to do could be really risky and could blow the investigation into pieces if she's not careful enough. Realistically speaking, her hunch only has a mere 35 percent chance of being accurate, and one wrong click could blow away that chance.

Akira frowned. She's acting on just a hunch, but still, most of her hunches proved to be correct. Will she risk this one or just work using the methodical approach, which is to gather data, investigate, and let the police do the dirty job?

The site required a bank account and a web cam. Akira bit her lip and sighed. _Well, 35 percent or not…_She clicked on the "Sign Up" button and waited.

_Name, age, location. _Akira entered his male identity, James Cameron. Age? Akira keyed in 25. Location? Akira paused. _Where? _She could invent anything here, but she wanted to be realistic as possible. She looked around and saw a pack of chocolates, labeled: "Made in Germany". Feeling slightly foolish, (but having no choice), Akira keyed in: "Germany".

The site asked for her preference in women. The choices were: "Asian, Black, White beauty, Caucasian, Others". Akira frowned. Well the victims came from different races. She glanced at the victims' profiles on her desk. In women, mostly Caucasians and Latinas were the victims. In children, they were mostly Asian. Akira sighed and clicked on Caucasian.

Last on the list was her account number. Giving one of the bank accounts she owned (as part of her multiple identities), Akira finally finished answering the required fields. The remaining things she has to secure now would be her web cam, and her username.

She used the username: "hotprince". Her problem now would be how to fake her image. She glanced at Ryuuzaki and wondered if he could help. But seeing that he was bent over a book and was reading, Akira just decided to ask someone else to help her instead.

She contacted the CIA's database and searched for an expert. Minutes later, she found one and asked the agent to create a fake "face" to show. To her disappointment, the agent said:

"I'm sorry, Ms. Montgomery, but that's impossible."

Akira raised an eyebrow. "And why? I was told that the CIA agents are the best in the world. Why can't you do it?" (Author's note: The alias "Jane Montgomery" used by Akira is British.)

"I'm sorry ma'am but what you're actually asking me to do is to create a moving hologram, which would be impossible."

Akira tapped her finger on the table, irritated. "Well then. Since you Americans can't help me with my case, I think I shall just confer this matter with the British intelligence agency."

Before she could hang up, the agent stopped her. "Wait! There could be another way!"

She sighed. "Of course there's another way!" Irritation was seeping through her voice as she spoke. "You could create a fake video of a man that performs pornographic activities and then I'd put it on loop for as long as necessary and I don't give a damn how you'll do it as long as you do it and make sure it's flawless and nobody will notice because you'll create a perfect video and if you don't I'll ask the CIA to remove you. Got it?"

The agent obviously got the message. "Yes ma'am. When do you need it?"

Akira had a curt reply. "In one hour." She ended the conversation, refusing to hear the agent's protests.

One hour later.

Taking a sip from her coffee that has grown cold over the past minutes, Akira viewed the video her agent sent her. It showed a man in his twenties, wearing a headset and viewing a computer. Every once in a while, the man would open his voice to speak, but no sound came. Akira nodded.

_That means that I have to do a voice over, _she thought. She decided to try it, saying the word 'watermelon' as the man in the video opened his mouth. It was a sure fit.

Akira smiled. Well, it wasn't flawless, but…it works. She tried it a couple of more times, varying the tone, the pitch and the words she used. Akira then realized that the alias she used sounded British, but the location she selected was German, therefore, she must speak in German or if not, she could speak English with a German accent.

_And just how the hell am I supposed to do that?_

She opened an online dictionary then sighed. _There's no way I could master speaking German in five minutes! _Akira thought for a while before concluding that she could always make up a story that she's a foreigner living in Germany for just a week and therefore has no knowledge of the country whatsoever.

Akira cupped her chin with her hands. There's no way she'd get away with this in a foolproof manner—and everything must be foolproof! She gave a low growl of impatience. It seems that her idea needs more working on.

After thinking it through, Akira accepted her defeat. She knew she couldn't pose as a man, much less fool other people with a hologram. While it is possible, she couldn't go on bullying the CIA staff to produce for her a fake image. No matter what advanced technology the CIA uses now, it is still insufficient. The only way she could pose as a man wanting sexual companionship in the website without sacrificing her identity is for her to have a male clone. That, she could not do.

And time is running out.

Akira looked around her, as if looking for answers. She cursed once more. _If only I was a boy, _she thought. _I could just key in a fake name, then use myself to discover more. Damn it._

She turned to her laptop once more and explored the website. At first glance, it seemed like your ordinary porn site. Pictures of naked women, a couple of free videos…Akira frowned. How did she get in this site in the first place?

She went back to the previous site she visited. It was One World Company's official site. There were make-up tips from so-called experts. Then, there were also free tutorials on different skin care remedies. But, the thing that links her to the victims was one of the tabs that said "Models".

Akira clicked this tab and viewed its contents. Well, there's nothing suspicious in there. She continued to read. The site offered many modeling agencies for all aspiring models. Akira frowned and picked the women's profiles from her table. Trying to prove that the missing women were lured somehow into prostitution, she re-read the detailed reports that she was able to gather on the women.

_Well, it is true that Nadia Martin and Adela Jakub indeed signed up for Page Parkes Modeling Agency…_she looked up at the site once more. _And it is under the One World Company. Well now, at least I have a connection._

She clicked the link for Page Parkes Modeling Agency. After a few seconds, it led her to its main page, but along with this, a pop-up ad appeared.

"Meet hot chicks, NOW!"

Akira was about to dismiss the pop-up ad when she paused and looked at the pictures. _Wait a minute…_She took the photos of Nadia Martin and Adela Jakub and compared it to the photo of the naked woman in the ad. The photo in the ad was quite small and she couldn't get an accurate look. With adrenaline rushing through her veins, she took the other photos of the women and compared each to the photos on the ad. Some resemblances were evident, but others were quite far-fetched. But still, she was sure—35% sure at least—that there was indeed a resemblance.

With her heart leaping, she immediately got her cell phone and dialed Warbeck's number. It took 2 rings before his voice greeted her.

"Aisha?"

"Warbeck, listen to me."

"Go. Shoot."

"I found the women."

Akira could hear Warbeck's excitement through his voice. "Where? How? Wait a minute, where are you? Are you outside or—"

"I'm still at Wammy's, look. Go to the website of One World Company, then click on the tab that says, Models. Then there are links there that leads you to the modeling sites that One World has. Click on the Page Parkes link and it will lead you to its main page. Now, wait for a couple of seconds and then a pop ad will appear. Look at the photos. I said, LOOK at the photos and look at it carefully. You'll see a bunch of naked women. Then compare the photos of the missing women that we have on the database and you'll see some resemblance."

Akira heard keyboards being typed on. A few seconds later, Warbeck gave a low whistle. "I see what you mean now."

"Have you seen the pictures?" she asked.

"Yep," Warbeck replied. "I see it. Geez, there are a lot of modeling agencies One World has. Is it even possible for them to finance such a wide array of agencies?"

"That is one of the questions," Akira replied wearily. "There are about 30 plus modeling agencies that are registered under One World Company. I'm pretty sure some of those are not legal or, not even existing."

She hear Warbeck sigh. "Well, what do you plan now?"

Akira drummed her fingers on the table before replying. "Check if any of the missing women logged in at any of those modeling sites, or even logged in at the One World Company's main page. Then, track the sites they have been visiting, what were their transactions there, how often they visited the sites…you know what I mean. Meanwhile, ask some of your men to see if these modeling agencies are legal or if they even exist. Also, ask them to see if any of the missing women had contact with those agencies. On the other hand, I'll go check these pictures out and see if I get a match." She paused for a while. "You got it?"

"Yes. Understood."

"I need the results not later than midnight."

"Midnight here or there?"

Akira smirked. "Here. And seeing that I'm in Japan and the time here is way before your time there…you're one lucky bastard."

Akira heard Warbeck chuckle. "Damn right you are, Aisha."

"Well then. Let's go back to work."

And with that she ended the call.

Akira heaved a deep breath and looked at the photos now scattered on her desk. Closing her eyes for a moment just to recap her plan, she once more heaved a deep breath. _Here we go,_ she told herself as she started to collect all the missing photos. And since she was holding a major world class case, the photos were over a hundred, including children and women.

_Shit, this is going to be difficult, _she muttered to herself as she stood up and took the pictures to the scanner. One by one, she scanned the pictures and saved them in her laptop. Next she had all the photos in the pop-up ad enlarged. She then visited various porn sites and collected as many photos of women she could. When she was done doing that, she said "Well then. Let's start work."

Midnight came. By this time, Akira had confirmed that some of the women in the pictures she gathered from porn sites were indeed the missing women—though she had a hard time because most of the pictures she has from the sites were already edited such that most of the women's distinguishing features were almost erased. She made a checklist of the things she has yet to unravel and these are:

How were the women lured into prostitution?

Who are the people responsible? Where is this person from? Is he/she from the victims' locality? Where did they meet? How?

What is the relationship of One World Company in these porn sites?

How would Akira be able to prove that One World Company is indeed responsible for these kidnappings?

Is there a connection between the missing women and the missing children?

Where do they keep the missing women?

Where are they now?

As Akira pondered on each question, she glanced at the table where Ryuzaki was seated. He was hunched over his laptop, typing away in his weird manner. Akira shook her head and sighed.

_At least I'm not as hunched as he is, _she thought. She stood up for a while and stretched. After that, she sat back down and started thinking.

What lured these women into prostitution? Maybe the promise of higher salary. Or a chance to work abroad, most probably in America. But who in her right mind would want to become a prostitute?

Akira frowned. Maybe they weren't lured at all. Maybe they were _tricked_ into prostitution.

They could be tricked into being models once they reach America. Such scams are popular anyway. And besides, the targets are women, and the criminals most probably tempted them with the lure of glamour and fame. _Not impossible, _Akira thought.

Just then, a pop-up message that said "you have new mail" appeared on her monitor. Akira opened the message and saw that it was from Warbeck. Akira managed to smile a little.

"At least, he wasn't late," she muttered to herself.

She opened and downloaded the attachments. While waiting, she resumed with her thoughts.

Well, she's quite near to solving the mystery of the missing women. How about the missing kids? Akira frowned. Could they be tricked into prostitution too? Akira shrugged. Why not? Men are unpredictable. And they could want anything, anytime.

A beep indicated that the download was finished. Akira opened the report that was about the legal establishments. A smile of triumph escaped from her lips moments later.

"I knew it!" She exclaimed. "None of those agencies existed! They were actually ghost companies!" She threw a punch in the air. Whoever Warbeck assigned to do this report deserved a cheer. He/She helped Akira a great deal.

Next, Akira opened the log in report of the websites. She smiled wider this time. The missing women, most of them, indeed logged in into the One World Company website, and all of those who logged in, also registered to the non-existent companies. Akira's heart leaped when she saw their transactions with the websites.

She quickly searched for thee transaction records of Adela Jakub and Nadia Martin, since these two women offered her the most information.

She found what she was looking for under the Page Parkes website. Both women were asked of their names, their occupation, home address, bank accounts…the usual riffraff. And both women gave their real identities.

Akira creased her forehead as she pondered on the report. So after giving their information, the women were contacted through e-mail from the "administrator" of the website, saying that there would be a preliminary "auditions" for all aspiring models. Akira underlined the indicated time, date and place. She reminded herself to check it out later.

She was about to resume her thoughts when she decided to stretch. She stood up, but upon standing, a sudden wave of dizziness overcame her, and she fell back down on the floor.

Almost instantly, she felt two cold hands help her sit up. Still dizzy, she looked up and saw Ryuzaki peering closely into her face.

"Are you alright?" he asked in his usual monotonous voice.

Akira tried to nod. She ran a hand over her forehead. "I feel dizzy," she murmured.

"Hn. Obviously, since you haven't eaten anything except for breakfast," said Ryuzaki.

Akira leaned back. Even she couldn't believe what he said. _Really? _

"You've been working for hours under an empty stomach," he said. He took some marshmallows from a nearby candy bowl. "Here."

Akira took one and put it in her mouth. The effects of hypoglycemia have not yet subsided, but she managed to say "thanks."

Ryuzaki went to the kitchen and prepared hot tea. Akira meanwhile sat back on her swivel chair. She suddenly felt weak.

A few moments later, Ryuzaki appeared carrying a tray with hot tea and tea cups.

"Watari's asleep now," he said, answering Akira's unspoken question. "It's just you and me."

Akira watched him as he poured tea on their cups. _It's just you and me…_

"Here," he offered her a cup. Akira took it gratefully and sipped a little. The tea seemed to warm her whole body. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

"Thank you, Ryuzaki," she said, trying to smile.

Ryuzaki did not answer, but instead, he offered her his assortment of jellybears. Akira took and ate one.

Ryuzaki sat on the floor, and Akira was vaguely reminded of James who used to perch by her side on nights when she was working on a case. Ryuzaki must have noticed her staring at him strangely, for he asked, "What is it?"

Akira shook her head. "Nothing. It's just that…" she hesitated for a while before continuing. "You remind me of James…a little bit…"

Ryuzaki made no reply to that and just continued to sip his tea. Akira did the same, and they sat in silence for a while.

Akira popped a strawberry in her mouth and then suddenly felt the urge to talk.

"If you are an underground syndicate, where will you hide?"

Surprised, Ryuzaki looked up at Akira. His first thought was that maybe she was in a delirium or temporarily out of her mind, but seeing her face clouded with seriousness, he realized that she was still probably thinking of her case, and is 100% serious about the question.

"I will not hide." Ryuzaki replied.

Akira looked back at him, and Ryuzaki continued. "I will not hide, instead, I will go out in the open. Hiding will only make me look guilty, which is the last thing I want to happen."

She frowned. "So if you are a syndicate who is after women to be used in prostitution…"

"…I would be in the most obvious prostitution dens. After all everything in this world…"

"…is a business," Akira finished the sentence for him. Ryuzaki nodded and gave her a thumbs up. Akira bowed her head thoughtfully.

"To be able to have a prostitution den, you must have women, lots of women, and lots of money too," Akira continued, more to herself than at Ryuzaki. "That's why you have the One World Company and a thousand of modeling agencies. As a double jeopardy, you also use these modeling agencies as a recruitment agency for future prostitutes. You lure the women into being models, and you get them from other countries…you like them vulnerable, do you?" Akira smirked a little. "And…you like them young…" She recalled Adela Jakub's age. "So you get them as young as 15 eh? What about…6 years old?" She quickly recalled the image of the young girl who was kidnapped in the Philippines. "Hmmm…so you also run a pedophile club or something? Like what, make the kids wear bikinis and thongs?" She shook her head in anger. "You bastard…" She paused for a while. "So you will not hide from me, huh? Then I'll wait for you to show up. But God…where? Where will you show up?"

Another long pause ensued. Ryuzaki stared at Akira, who despite her sleepless nights, still manages to look charming enough to Ryuzaki.

Just then, Akira popped another question. "Where will you be then? If you are a huge prostitution syndicate, where will you hide your prostitutes?"

There was a pause before Ryuzaki answered. "Where there are many customers."

Akira frowned, and then whispered, "downtown, New York." Suddenly, she stood up. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "Page Parkes Modeling Agency is in New York, and there are a lot of bars in downtown New York! And to keep these women from running away, he'll hide them in the slums where they are locked up most of the time!"

There was a triumphant glow in Akira's face as she turned to look at Ryuzaki. "Thank you so much Ryuzaki!" She smiled and knelt down to meet his eyes.

"I just don't know how to thank you, so I'll do this the American way." And without another word, she kissed him on the cheek.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Once again, Death Note's not mine.

So after a long hiatus, Silent Funeral's back. Well, I won't promise you regular updates (because you know, I'm studying and can't really juggle a lot of things at the same time. I'm currently a third year nursing student, so i've gotta work hard if i want to finish my degree. :D), but i promise that i'd wprk on each chapter more often now. thanks to those who'll bother to read, i know i've been away for _so long_. Just as before constructive criticism would be very much appreciated.

honestly, this chapter's a little...off track (in my opinion). i mean, i was actually hesitant to post this one and kept re-writing it for fear of ruining the good foundations that Silent Funeral's on. the previous chapters were all nice and beautifully-written, and then here comes this chapter which was written while i was idly waiting for dinner. i admit, i kinda rushed in doing this (i was also getting a little bored of the pacing) but then i was in this conflict where if i hastened the pacing of the story, then i'd compromise the mood of it and ruin it's aesthetic sense. but if i keep up with the pacing right now...well this story might reach up to a hundred chapters. geez.

oh well, thanks for reading and take care all of you!


	11. Chapter 11

Akira pulled away from Ryuzaki and stared. It was an awkward moment. Well, not in America, at least. But this is not America-this is Japan for Pete's sake-and certain customs are not allowed. Especially the one including kissing people without preamble.

It was painfully awkward. The silence. His stare.

_This sure isn't pure professionalism, _Akira thought.

She decided to break the painfully awkward moment with a bit of humor. "Well, that was how we say "thanks" in the west." She grinned, hoping that he'd at least nod. When none of that came, she bit her lip and continued. "But if you're not okay with that, then I apologize. That was very unprofessional of me."

Beep.

Beep. Beep beep.

She turned towards the sound and saw one of her phones vibrating. Reluctantly, she picked it up and turned away from Ryuzaki.

"Warbeck?"

The voice from the other line sounded a bit breathless. "Yeah. This is kinda urgent so I decided to call you instead."

"What is it?"

"You remember Page Parkes?"

Akira's concentration came back and she gripped her cellphone tighter. "What about it?"

Warbeck heaved a deep breath first. "It's not legal, Aisha. It isn't legal at all!"

She was dumbstruck. "But…you said it was, so I-"

"I know, I know! But I was kinda curious why a porn pop ad would always appear every time a person tries to open its site. I mean, I asked some of the people here to try and access the Page Parkes website and every single one of them saw the pop ad. And guess what…the pop ad never changes."

Akira blinked several times before speaking. "You mean…wait. If it's just the usual web hosting business, then the ads should change, right? But what you're saying is that Page Parkes itself owns the pop ad. Correct?"

"Exactly," said Warbeck. "And I took more accurate contrast and comparison with the pictures and yes, there are resemblances." Warbeck chuckled a little. "Your eyes are better than our gadgets."

"Thank you," Akira replied with a smile. "However, how did you know that the modeling agency is illegal?"

"I checked through the database once more. Actually, it was legal until 1997. Then a case was filed against the agency regarding their policies. Also, 2 models from the agency were found dead. Forensic evidence showed fresh multiple contusions and other wounds suggestive of sexual abuse." Warbeck paused. "The agency was closed in 1998."

There was a brief moment of silence as Akira wove the details quickly in her mind.

"So that explains it!" she snapped her fingers. "Look, now that we know that Page Parkes is illegal, it is already easy to follow the women's tracks. Here's how I think they do it. They tempt women and lure them into modeling. These women are given a website in which they are supposed to fill out an application form. This website is obviously the Page Parkes Website. Now the women key in their information and soon they are contacted by the agency. A representative will meet them in some place and talk them into modeling. Somehow, these women are smuggled into America where they are kept and forced to work as prostitutes. The problem for us, is to know who are responsible for this, where are the women, and how were they able to smuggle them in." Akira paused to breathe deeply. She then stood up and continued. "Pinning the agency is easy since they're not supposed to operate now because they're supposed to be closed since 1998. But what's difficult is actually pinning them down for sex trade." Akira paused. "And just how am I supposed to do that?"

There was a pause before Warbeck said, "Aisha, have you been watching CNN lately?"

Akira shook her head. "No. I'm too busy. Why?"

"A batch of women is dead."

Akira paused and looked straight ahead at the wall. Her head began to spin. She's still not finish with the Human Trafficking case, there's a chance that this new case will be handed again to her since she's the only woman detective capable of solving such cases. She has to work double time, that's what this means.

"Aisha? Aisha? You still there?"

Akira woke up from her reverie. "Yeah, I just thought of something. It could be that the human trafficking case and this new case are connected."

"I thought so too," replied Warbeck, "and I think we are right. I checked with the NYPD earlier and they said that the women were illegal immigrants and-"

"Prostitutes."

"You got that right," said Warbeck with a chuckle. "I still find you amusing, Aisha. You're so fast in picking up my line of thought."

Akira smiled. "Can't help it." Her tone turned serious. "Could you send me the list of those women and their data? It's with you right now, correct?"

"Yep," said Warbeck. "Wait, don't hang up. I'm sending the email and it would arrive right about…" Akira heard keyboard keys being typed on. "…Now." Warbeck heaved a sigh. "There, you received it?"

A ding from her laptop sounded and Akira glanced to see that she received the e-mail. "Yeah, I have it," she said to Warbeck. "I'll get back to you later, I still have some sleuthing to do."

"Alright, call me later. But hey, not too late at night alright? I need some beauty rest too."

Akira chuckled. "You bastard. I'm working my butt off here and you get to rest? Unfair, totally unfair."

Warbeck laughed out loud from the other line. "Solve the case early and you'll be out of Japan in no time. Okay now, do your sleuthing."

"Alright." And with that, Akira hung up.

That last line of Warbeck's caught her attention, though.

_Solve the case early and you'll be out of Japan in no time._

Akira glanced at the white figure crouched on an armchair, busy typing away at his laptop. Somehow, something about him made her think if…

* * *

Late that night, Akira pored over the data sent to her by Warbeck. She read their profile and was once again struck by the similarities: they are all in their mid-teens to early thirties. She looked at the pictures sent to her and it chilled her blood. The pictures were gruesome and cruel. Whoever did the crime was an absolutely soulless creature. Akira could not find the words to properly describe what she saw.

The women were stripped naked and were thrown helter-skelter. According to the preliminary report sent by Warcbeck, the bodies were found in different places, all separated by about more than a hundred miles from each other. Akira looked carefully at the pictures, ignoring for a while the sickening pit in her stomach, as she tried to reconstruct the location of the bodies in her mind. Absently, Akira dialed Warbeck's number. After two rings, he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Yeah. Tell me where the police found the bodies," Akira said without preamble.

Warbeck sighed before replying, "They found the bodies at different places. One they found as far as Wilmington, others, just in the outskirts of town. One was found in a trash can in front of a gasoline station, just a mile from downtown New York."

"Wilmington?" Akira paused for a while to consider the possibilities. "Hmm. It could be that the crime was committed there, and the other corpses were thrown at different placed to hide the tracks of the killer. However, if the murder site was in Wilmington, how could the killer transport it? He possibly couldn't travel with a corpse in a plane."

"That's true, but what if he traveled by land?" said Warbeck. "He could put the body in the trunk of his car."

Akira was doubtful. "The corpse would stink-and that's only one corpse. But what if it's many? Besides, Wilmington is more than an hour's drive to New York, you couldn't possibly stomach the stench!" Akira paused for a while. "But then again, the killer could be a gang, so assuming that each member carried a corpse in his car…"

"It wouldn't hurt much," said Warbeck. "I mean, to kill in such a manner…the killer's not an amateur."

"Yeah," Akira nodded. "You've got a point. Another option I'm considering here is that New York might be the murder site, and Wilmington's where they dumped one of the bodies." Akira bent over her desk and looked at one picture where the dead girl was splayed carelessly, her perineal area bloody and bruised. "Did the police do an autopsy already? What did the coroner say?"

"If you're thinking of rape or sexual abuse, yes, the women were sexually abused. However, except for the body of the Chinese girl-have you seen it?-the wounds on the women's perineal areas are already old, which means they have been lacerated before they were murdered."

Akira frowned. "Naturally. They're prostitutes." She heaved a deep breath. "You know, I really have a strong hunch that these women were killed in downtown New York and their bodies were dumped in some other place to give it an air of 'mysteriousness', you know…" she sighed. "Any eye witnesses?"

"Nope. Nada. These people do a clean job."

She paused for a while to think. Out of the blue, she asked, "Have we checked the immigration yet?"

"What do you want to know?" Warbeck asked.

"Well, if these women were indeed smuggled to America, they must have been recorded in the immigration's database." Akira sat up straight. "Go, check the immigration records. Most probably, these women, if they followed the legal process, were granted tourist visas. You're not allowed to work while you're on a tourist visa, nor are you allowed to overstay."

"Hmmm. I see where you're going…"

"Yeah. If the immigration records turn out positive, we'll next check the airline records. From there, we'll know which state they all went-if they landed on a common state or not. Hopefully they did. It will make the chase less complicated." She took a pen and started to chew on its cap. "My hunch is that they were granted tourist visas, met the Page Parkes agents, gave up their papers, and was then tricked into being prostitutes rather than models. They are kept somewhere in New York or any other place and trapped in some brothel or den."

She could hear Warbeck laugh. "That could go to the courts, Aisha. Seriously."

She smirked. "It's just a theory, although I hope I'm right. If I am, then these women are already on the WANTED list. You know? Anyway, I investigated on the background of Page Parkes' CEO and I found out that he was imprisoned for domestic abuse way back in the 80's."

"You mean, old man Parkes has a history of hitting women?"

"Yup. But not only hitting them, but raping them as well."

Warbeck let out a whistle. "Domestic rape?"

Akira smirked. "What else would you call it?" She turned serious again. "Alright, Warbeck. It seems we have another ton of shit to do. Add to the continuing investigations on Adela and Nadia, please do a background investigation on old man Parkes." Akira paused. "In fact, do a background check on all members of the Board."

"You do realize Aisha that this might take months."

"I know. But that's the only option I have at the moment. I have checked the online logs you sent me and I have confirmed that the women reported missing indeed contacted Page Parkes." Akira rummaged for the online report sent to her and her list. "What surprises me though, is that when I compared the list of women and the online logs, it's funny that they have one website in common, and that is the Page Parkes website."

"Which confirms your hunch that Page Parkes isn't a modelling agency, rather it is a some sort of prostitution recruitment hub thing, right?" Warbeck said.

Akira nodded. "Yup. Exactly. So that made it easier for us, because all we have to do now is to track down Page Parkes. We have already established that it isn't a legal establishment. What we have to do next is to prove that it is a prostitution and human trafficking den."

Warbeck gave a long sigh. "We've only just busted the tip of the iceberg, Aisha. Just the tip."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Yes. We've got a long way to go."

There was a moment's pause before Akira spoke again. "Alright then, let's get back to work. All reports must be in by tomorrow afternoon, most especially airport logs and the investigation on immigration stuff, ok? Stick with Adela and Nadia, they give us the most information."

"Alright Aisha. Signing off."

Akira hung up. She felt drained. Her mind wants to work, but her body's tired. Her job's nowhere close to 50%. She had just confirmed her hunch about Page Parkes, but there isn' t enough evidence to prove that it is a prostitution den. She could pin them down for operating without a license, but that's not the point of her investigation. She has to accuse and prove that Page parkes is guilty of human trafficking, illegal detention, prostitution, violations against human rights, and multiple counts of murder (if the dead women found in New York are proven to be connected with Page Parkes). Right now, she's nowhere close.

She rubbed her temples and sighed in frustration. Damn it, she's tired, hungry and cold inside. When was the last time she saw the sun? When was the last time she watched a movie and just plain rested?

_The last movie you saw was Casablanca. _

Akira felt like crying. That sucks, to realize that she sucks at being a person. She frowned at her laptop and the mountain of files in front of her. She wondered if she's the only one cursed at this life.

"What was the last movie you watched?" Akira asked Ryuzaki aloud, not expecting an answer from the stoic man.

To her surprise, he responded.

"Gone with the Wind."

Akira's eyes widened despite her fatigue. "Gone with the Wind? You?" she said in surprise. Unable to contain herself, she blurted out, "You don't look like the romantic type to me."

To which, Ryuzaki only replied with "Hn."

Still unbelieving, Akira asked, "And what is your favorite part? Let me guess, when Scarlett swore she'll never go hungry again at the Wilke's place."

Still emotionless, Ryuzaki glanced at her and answered, "The opening credits."

"What?!"

He paused typing and looked at her, his face impassive. "I slept through the whole thing."

Akira was dumbstruck for a while, considering if Ryuzaki was serious or not, before giving a short laugh. "That doesn't count." She chuckled and turned at her laptop. "Regardless, you do have a strange sense of humor. And thanks for the laugh, I needed it." Still grinning, she resumed reading her reports.

He's strange, alright. The opening credits.._._

She laughed softly to herself, trying to forget the way his eyes bored into hers when she kissed him, stress and fatigue slightly pushed back at the corner of her mind.

* * *

L watched in mild amusement at the girl adjacent him. Just a moment ago she seemed so forlorn, tired and weak. But now, her stooped shoulders relaxed a little, and traces of laughter lingered on her lips. L could not help but watch her for a moment more.

As usual, he and Kyoko were working like machines, and he didn't mind for this was the life he's used to. With the way the investigation on Kira is going, L had been all eyes and ears to all details pertaining to the case. But that doesn't hinder him from observing Kyoko who worked beside him.

He couldn't help but glance at her as she typed, read and mused about her leads. Every once in a while she would talk to someone over the phone. Give directions, explore possibilities, occassionally scold someone. She worked hard-in fact, too hard that she forgets to eat most of the time.

And so when L noticed the first signs of hypoglycemia before she did, he knew what to do. For some strange reason, he seemed to know when she's becoming hypoglycemic even before she could notice herself. And almost always, strawberries and sweets on a stick could rev her back up.

She felt lighter than she looked. That was what L realized when he helped her up awhile ago when she felt dizzy. And she's capable of doing spontaneous things when he least expects it.

Just like when Kyoko kissed him earlier.

L is aware of how limited his human interactions are, and it never bothered him. Not until he felt her lips on his cheek. Random human acts always leaves him in a plethora of emotions. Like when Yagami-san wrapped a blanket around his shoulders when he thought L was sleeping. Like when Watari would look at him with strange fondness. Like when Kyoko kissed him-though only a chaste kiss it was.

It bothered him when he couldn't understand this one little act by the girl. He figured Yagami-san was merely concerned when he gave that blanket, and Watari was simply being his kind self.

But Kyoko?

She's_ becoming more of a puzzle than Light Yagami_ is.L mused.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**Standard disclaimers apply. **

**Hey there! I really apologize for the extremely long hiatus. I know I left this story pending for years and as a writer, I feel horrible. It's just that I was very busy with my studies. I told myself that I'll work on this after graduation, but bad luck seemed my best friend, cause after grad I was busy reviewing for the Nurse Licensure Exam. But it's all worth it though because I am now a registered nurse. Hooray!**

**So there. Thanks to everyone who still reads my fanfic. Like always, constructive criticisms are always welcome. =) Here's my blog by the way, for those interested: . :) thanks guys!**


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